Tomorrow Starts Today
by musicalfreak22
Summary: Takes place during sixth season when Jess shows up for the first time in the season. Better summary inside, I promise. Formerly titled Untitled for now.
1. Part 1

**This one's set about a week (well...the beginning) after the first episode Jess shows up in sixth season. I haven't seen it since I don't have the channel here (in my country, I'll explain if anyone ask), so I just got inspired from the fact that Jess showed up. Enjoy!**

**Hey, if anyone can come up with a title, please let me know when you review!**

**PART 1**

...a hand through long brown hair…an arm around a neck…some movement under red sheets…a whispered ''I love you''…a whispered ''you're so beautiful''…two bodies who tense up…two loud sighs...

Rory Gilmore woke up, feeling happy. Feeling relieved…sort of. Feeling good, simply. She then felt an arm closed tightly around her waist and a warm breath in her neck. She smiled. She turned around to look at the guy who was sleeping behind her.

Feeling someone was looking at him, he opened his eyes. When he saw her, he smiled, feeling really good. He tightened his grip around her waist, not wanting to let her go. She kissed him. He kissed her too. For a long time. Deeply. When they stopped, she rested her head on his chest, not saying anything. Nothing had to be said.

She couldn't stop thinking about the night she just had. It was so…she couldn't find a word to describe how it was…he had been so nice, so sweet…she won't let him go anymore. Never. She loved him…yeah, she had to admit it, she loved that guy. Even if he ran away. Even if he was sometimes a complete jerk to her…and to everyone else. Yeah, Rory Gilmore loved Jess Mariano. She had always had. Since the first time she had met him. At the beginning, she didn't want to admit it, but when she gave him her "welcome kiss" at Sookie's wedding, she realized she loved him. Not in a friendly way. In a way that now she was thinking about spending her life with him. Even have kids. His kids. His and her kids.

At that thought, she looked up at him, and then kissed him once again.

"Hi" she said, smiling to him while resting her head back on his chest.

"Hey beautiful" he answered back, lifting up his head to kiss her one more time.

She smiled when they stopped.

"How are you feeling?" he asked after a while.

"Ugh…I don't really know…but I know I'm feeling good."

"Good."

A comfortable silence fell.

"You had a nice sleep?" she asked.

"Couldn't do better. And you?"

"Same."

Another silence. She couldn't stand it anymore, she had to say it.

"What a great night…"

"What?" he asked, surprised and amused by her comment.

"Don't make me repeat that…"

"What did you say?"

"I said I wouldn't repeat!"

He kissed her fiercely.

"What did you say?" he asked again.

"Ugh…what a great night…"

She then realized she had repeated her statement.

"I hate when you do that! It turns me upside down and you always get what you want!"

"So?"

"…manipulator…"

"Maybe, but you love it, don't you?"

"…manipulator…"

She began to tickle him.

"Stop it! Stop it!" he screamed between two tickles.

"Admit you're a manipulator! Admit it!"

"Okay, okay! I admit it! I admit! Now stop or I'll die! You don't want that, do you?"

She stopped.

"Good point" she said.

She laid back down, her head on his chest again. He began stroking her hair slowly, absentmindedly.

"Oh wow…I can't believe I've just spent the night with you" she declared after a while.

"Do you regret?" he asked, suddenly scared.

"No, no! Why would I regret that? I wanted it! I've wanted this to happen for a long time…"

"What do you mean?"

"Um…you remember…that party, at Kyle's, a few days before you left?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You remember when we were together, alone in a room, on the second floor?"

"Yeah…I think you did the best thing when you pushed me away."

"Sometimes I think that I did the wrong thing. I tell myself that if I had let you continue, you would have stayed…and also, the thought of…having sex, with you…had been on my mind for a while at that moment…but the fact that you were kind of mad made me think that it wasn't the good moment, that's why I pushed you away…if you had been in a better mood, I wouldn't have protested…"

"That's okay now. When I think about it, maybe I wouldn't have been…very nice…to you if we had slept together that night…I was so angry…"

"That's over, now, okay? Let's think about the present."

"I agree."

Flies could have been heard at that moment if there had been flies in the room.

"Tell me" Jess began to ask, "does your boyfriend know you're here?"

"Um…I don't think so…I told him I was at a friend's place. If I had told him ''hey, listen, I'm going to see my ex-boyfriend Jess and have sex with him. I'll se you later!'', I don't think he would have been that comprehensive. Anyway, I didn't even plan to sleep with you, so…"

"Yeah…good point…"

Moment of silence during which Jess seemed thoughtful.

"What do we do?" he suddenly asked.

"You mean…now?"

"No…for us…I love you, Ror…I want you to be part of my life…"

"I love you too, Jess…I'll brake up with Logan, I promise…"

"Don't make fake promises, please…"

"Have I ever made you fake promises?"

"Um…no…but if I remember well what you told me about your attitude of the last weeks, I could tell that you didn't worth any trust from anyone."

"I know…but you know, I'm coming back on the good track. You're really helping me. More I think about it and more I realize that Logan made me do things I would have never done, even with you when you were in Stars Hollow and that we had fun together. We never went as far as stealing something. Logan is a complete jackass. I've become someone else than myself. Someone I don't know."

Rory's cell phone began to ring.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"Um…"

He looked at his watch, on the bedside table.

"11:00 AM."

"Oh god…"

She picked up her phone and checked the caller ID.

"Shit, that's Logan…stay silent. Hey Logan!"

"Hey Ace! Where are you?"

"Still at my friend's place. Why?"

"Ugh…I thought we could do something together today. What do you think?"

"Listen…not today, okay? But I need to talk to you. Can you meet me at my grandparents' after lunch?"

"Sure! At one?"

"Okay. I'll see you then."

"Bye!"

Rory hung up.

"You want to come with me? We'll eat lunch together."

"Um…okay…but what will Logan say when he'll see me there?"

"I don't care, that's none of his business."

"Ugh…okay…but I'm not completely at ease with that…"

"Listen, when he'll arrive, you'll just have to go hide in my room. While I'll be talking with him, we won't go there. He won't see you."

"Okay…but I'm still not at ease…"

"It'll be over soon, okay? Don't worry. We won't have to hide anymore. I'll be completely yours."

He smiled mischievelously and kissed her.

"Let's get dressed and leave" Rory reluctantly said, getting on her feet.

Jess did the same. A few minutes later, they left the motel room where Jess was staying and they went to the pool house in Emily and Richard Gilmore's backyard, where they ate lunch, until Logan's arrival at one. When they heard a knock , Jess went to Rory's room and Rory went to the door to open it.

"Hey Logan."

"Hey Ace" he answered, lowering his head to give her a kiss, but she moved aside to close the door. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Um…sit down, please."

"Okay."

He sat down on the couch.

"Listen Logan, I don't think that we should see each other again."

"What?"

"You heard what I said! You had me doing things I didn't really want to do! I'm now in a huge fight with my mom because of you! Because we stole a boat! What did you think, ugh? I'm not that kind of girl! I've become a person that is not me. I don't even recognize me myself."

"Hey, you could have told me you didn't want to do that! But you said you needed some action!"

"That's right, but it could have been something less...um...Anyway…I thought I loved you, but I realized I didn't. It was just a crush I had on you, and now it's over."

"Fine! But if you think I'll believe that, you're wrong! That's that guy I met a few days ago who told you to brake up with me, no?"

"What? Jess? No! He doesn't have anything to do with that!"

"You think so? Since he showed up, you've changed! You're distant, you don't want to do anything! You even got back to your damn books!"

"That's the real me, Logan. You can't change that. You can't change what I've always been."

"At least, tell me you had a minimum of fun…"

"Yeah, I had some fun. But it's over now. I want to make up with my mom. I'm tired of living here. I miss my town! You took that away from me too!"

"And it's my fault…"

"Yes, it's your fault. You didn't like Stars Hollow when I brought you there. My mom didn't like you. Even Luke didn't like you. They all told me you would get me into trouble. I should've listened to them! Now, if you'll please leave, I have a mother who waits my apologies."

"Fine!"

He stormed out of the pool house. Rory sat down on the couch, and sighed, relieved. Jess got out of the bedroom and joined her. Rory rested her head on his shoulder.

"You ok?" he asked, taking her hand.

"I guess I am…it does some good to tell what you think…"

"Yeah, I know…"

"You want to come with me to Stars Hollow?"

"You sure? What will everyone say if they see us together?"

"Who cares? Luke doesn't know you're around?"

"Yeah, but I don't think the first thing he did was telling everyone."

"Good point…anyway, I don't care what people'll say. You're my boyfriend, no? I'm 21, no one has to tell me with who I have to be with."

"Okay then. I'm not telling anything anymore. Do you have your car?"

"Yeah, it's in the driveway. Let's go."

"You want me to drive?"

"Okay. As long as you don't crash it."

He gave her a look that told her she would pay for that later. She just smiled and took her purse and her keys, which she gave to Jess. They left the pool house hand in hand and went to Stars Hollow.


	2. Part 2

PART 2 

When they passed by the sign that said ''Welcome to Stars Hollow'', Rory became more nervous. Will her mom accept her apologies? Will she even agree to talk to her? If she wanted to have answers to those questions, she had to see her. They first stopped at Luke's. When they entered, whispers could be heard around them. Luke went out of the kitchen, curious to know why everybody was whispering. When he saw Rory and Jess, hands linked together, he understood.

"You two" he said before they could sit down, "upstairs, now."

Rory and Jess did as instructed and without saying anything. Luke told Caesar he would be back soon and followed them.

"So what's happening?" Luke asked, entering the apartment.

"What do you mean?" Jess asked.

"I mean: what's happening?"

"I'm not sure to understand, uncle Luke."

"Did you go to Hartford only to brake Rory's relationship with Logan?"

"What? No! I wanted to see her to show her my book. That's all. Things went on and today we're together. Is that a crime? I didn't do anything!"

"Is all that true, Rory?"

"Yeah, that's the truth" Rory answered. "Jess showed up at the pool house about a week ago while I was with Logan. He told me he wanted to show me something. I read his book and after that, I began to think about my relationship with Logan. I realized I didn't love him anymore…if I ever loved him...and that I was still feeling something for Jess…"

"Well…I guess I'll believe you, Jess…I just hope you both know what you're doing."

"For now" Rory said, "I'm trying to fix up my mistakes. The first thing I've got to do is make up with my mother."

"I think that's a good idea" Luke said. "I think she misses you. She's been distant since you left."

"Okay, I'll start there, then I'll see…Do you know where she is?"

"She might be at the inn. If not, she's at home. I'm going back downstairs" Luke added before leaving.

When she was sure Luke was gone, Rory turned to Jess.

"Do you need me to be there?" Jess asked. "I don't think that I'll be a real help, but I offer you all the same."

"Yeah…I think I have to face her alone. I did those mistakes alone, so I have to fix them on my own. But thanks for the offer."

"You know you can count on me now, no?"

"Yes, and I thank you for that too. But for now, I have to face my mother alone. You're not involved in that fight."

"Okay. So I'll be here, I'll be helping Luke."

"Alright then."

They walked downstairs. Jess walked Rory to the door.

"I'll see you later I guess" Rory said, nervous.

"Hey, it'll be alright, ok?" he said, cupping her face in his hands.

"Yeah…I hope so…"

He kissed her to give her courage.

"Thanks, I needed it."

"So now go, I want to see you and your mother here for dinner."

"I'll do what I can."

She smiled to him, kissed him briefly and left, and Jess went to help his uncle. On her way to the inn, Rory had her mind focused on what she could tell her mom to get her forgiveness…she knew it wouldn't be easy…when she got to the entrance door, she got a lot more nervous than she was when she left the diner a couple minutes ago. She finally got the courage to open the door and go to the front desk, where she knew Lorelai would be.

"Welcome to the Dragonfly Inn" Lorelai said, before lifting up her head. "How may I…oh…"

"Hi mom."

"What are you doing here?"

"Can I talk to you?"

"I'm busy."

"Please mom. I want to apologize to you. I've just realized how mistaken I was. I miss you…"

"Listen Rory…I don't know what you were thinking…stealing a boat, Rory! What the hell was on your mind? That's so not you! I told you that guy would bring you problems! I told you I didn't like him!"

"I know mom! And I just realized it too late! When it was done! Now I'm doing my community services hours when I can, and I can tell you that I really regret what I did. I broke up with Logan earlier today, before coming here. You couldn't imagine how relieved I can feel right now, but there's still something missing…and that thing is my mother. There's an empty space in me that have been there for too long. I'm sorry for what I did. Living with grandpa and grandma, mostly with grandma, was becoming difficult. Grandma wants me in her D.A.R. thing 'cause of Logan. She loves Logan! He's part of the rich community of Hartford, and I was his girlfriend, so I had to be part of the elite myself. It is getting on my nerves. Grandma is getting on my nerves. I wasn't even happy, I think, to be with Logan. I wasn't happy in that kind of life, anyway."

She sighed in relief. She had just said what she had on her heart for weeks.

"Hold on a second…your grandmother was getting on your nerves? Yay! Party!"

"Oh, mom…I know now what you were feeling when you were still living there. I think grandma was near to call me Lorelai and make me call grandpa ''dad''. I think she wanted me to become what you didn't become…but I don't want to be like that! I love the life I had before all went wrong! And I don't even know when and why it all started…"

"Ugh…I think I know…I think it all began when you slept with Dean, don't you think?"

"Maybe, but…why did I do that? What made me do that?"

"I don't know hun, you alone can answer that question. What happened before that?"

"Um…there was Jess who came to my dorm and asked me to give up my life and run away with him, and I told him no…and I think that with breaking his heart, I broke mine at the same time…I think that's the reason that made me go wrong…"

"I'm glad you found the starting point of all that…now, um...speaking of Jess…um…he's around here…and he has a room in a motel, in Hartford…"

"Ugh…I know…he came to see me a few nights ago, at the pool house, while I was with Logan."

"Oh, um…how did it go?"

"Actually…pretty well. He told me he wanted to show me something, which was this book he wrote. I read it and saw him again, last night, and now, um…I'm back with him…He wants to see us arrive together at the diner for dinner."

"Wow! Um…Jess really changed…You haven't told me Jess came to your dorm!"

"Yeah…I thought I would get over it, but I was oh so wrong…Are we okay, now?"

"Um…I guess so…"

Rory went behind the desk to hug her.

"Welcome back, honey. I missed you."

"I missed you too, mom. I'm glad to be finally back here. I missed that town."

They let go of each other.

"Do you need help?" Rory asked.

"Not really, but you can stay so we can catch up, no? Until dinner."

"That would be great."

"Cool."

So Rory stayed there all afternoon and around 5, they left together for Luke's, who got surprised to see the two of them arrive together. They sat down at a table and Jess came to see them.

"Hey you two" he said.

"Hey Jess" Lorelai said.

"Hey" Rory said before he gave her a kiss.

"I knew you would have made up today" Jess said. "So, what would you like to eat?"

"Um…cheeseburger, french fries, and…coffee, of course" Lorelai answered.

"Same for me" Rory said.

"Be right up!" Jess added before leaving to give the order at the back.

Their meal arrived about ten minutes later. After the first bite, Rory rose her eyes up to the sky.

"God, I missed that stuff!" she said.

"What did you eat during all those months?" Lorelai asked, almost horrified.

"Um…vegetables, fruits…healthy stuff most of the time. I was going crazy."

"Oh, I can understand. Do you have anything planned for tonight?"

"Not yet, why?"

"Are you up for a movie night?"

"Always! I kinda missed that too."

"Good! You pick up the movies, I'll take care of the rest."

"Deal! Can Jess join us?"

"Ugh…okay."

"Cool!"

As if on cue, Jess came up sitting with them.

"What's cool?" he asked.

"You want to be part of our movie night tonight?" Rory asked him.

"Sure. When does it start?"

"Um…as soon as we'll have all we need. We end up eating, then I'm going to pick up the movies and mom the food, and it'll start."

"I guess I'll go with you for the movies so I don't miss the beginning and also to make sure you don't pick up anything that'll drive both of you crazy or hysterical for days."

"How could a movie drive someone crazy or hysterical, ugh?"

"I don't know, but with the two of you, we never know."

"I think you know us too much, Jess" Lorelai said.

"Yup, and I don't think that's a bad thing. I'll go back to work if I want to be able to leave with you later."

"Okay."

He gave a quick kiss to Rory and went back to work.


	3. Part 3

PART 3 

About half an hour later, Rory and Lorelai finally finished eating, so Jess joined them and they left, after Lorelai kissed Luke goodbye. They separated outside the diner and met at the Gilmore's house about fifteen minutes later. They all woke up the next morning in the living room, Rory and Jess curled up on the couch and Lorelai on the floor, at the smell of breakfast cooking in the kitchen. Rory opened her eyes first and wondered during a second where she was, and then looked up at Jess, still asleep. She smiled, then got up without disturbing him or her mother and went to the kitchen, where she found Luke.

"Hey Luke" she said a little sleepily, sitting down at the table.

"Hi Rory. Nice sleep?"

"Ugh…yeah, I guess…and you?"

"Quite good. It was weird to not find your mom next to me this morning."

"Yeah, you didn't attend our movie nights yet. We always end up sleeping somewhere in the living room 'cause we're too tired to go to our room."

"That's something I guess I'll get used to one day, I hope. You hungry?"

"Yup. That's nice to you to make breakfast."

"That's nothing, I'm doing it all the time for your mom."

He gave her a plate.

"Thanks" she said.

And she began to eat, when she felt a pair of arms surrounding her.

"Hey" Jess whispered in her ear before kissing her.

"Hey" she said after the kiss.

He sat down next to her.

"Hi Luke" he said.

"Hi Jess, how are you doing?"

"Couldn't do better" giving a look to Rory, who smiled. "And you?"

"I'm doing good. You hungry?"

"Yeah, thanks."

Luke gave him a plate and he began to eat. They suddenly heard a loud "what the hell am I doing on the floor?'' coming from the living room.

"You okay Lorelai?" Luke asked.

She entered the kitchen.

"How did I get on the floor?" she asked.

"Ugh...Mom, you've been sitting on the floor all night, yesterday."

"Ugh…yeah. You're right" she said while taking a seat.

Luke put down a plate in front of her and sat down next to her, giving her a "good morning'' kiss.

"What are your plans for today, hun?" Lorelai asked.

"Um…I have to do some community services hours, then I think I'll go get my stuff at the pool house and bring them back here…if you want me to come back, of course."

"Of course I want you to come back, I won't let you live in that hell any longer."

"Thanks mom."

She turned to Jess.

"Will you help me with my stuff?"

"Sure" he answered. "Call me when you'll be ready."

"Okay."

Some time during the afternoon, Rory finally called Jess to tell him to meet her at the pool house. When he arrived, she was in her room, putting her clothes in bags.

"Hey" he said, entering the room.

"Hey" she greeted him before giving him a kiss.

"You ready?"

"Not yet, but there's some stuff that's ready to put in the car. You can take care of that?"

"Sure."

"Thanks."

He left the room, took some boxes and went out. A few seconds later, Emily entered.

"Rory?" she called.

"Grandma?"

Rory got out of the room while Emily noticed the boxes beside the door.

"Why are there boxes near the door?" Emily asked.

"Um...I'm going back to Stars Hollow..."

"What? Why?"

"I made up with my mother and I want to go back."

"But..."

Jess came back.

"Ror I...oh oh..."

Emily turned to see who it was and then turned back to Rory.

"What is he doing here?"

"He's helping me, grandma."

"I thought he left!"

"Well...he came back."

"What do you do of Logan?"

"I'm not with him anymore."

"But you love Logan!"

"No I don't! I think it was only a crush on him that I had for a moment 'cause I was feeling lonely and lost. Mom had Luke, my heart was still into pieces since the last time I saw Jess so I guess I just...fell for the first I met...and it didn't give any good results."

"It's not that bad, darling!"

"Oh yes it's that bad! I had been in a huge huge fight for months with my mom. Our fights never lasted that long! I was missing her, and my real friends, and my town! I was getting bored!"

"Bored? You seemed to enjoy the life you were living."

"I thought so first, but as time went by, I realized it wasn't the life I wanted. I want to go back to Yale, I want to have the life I was living before I turned wrong, with some additions."

Jess smiled at that statement.

"Listen grandma, it's not that I don't love you, it's the complete opposite, but I can't get into the D.A.R. I'm not feeling as if I was at my place into that. I first attended those meetings because I thought it was fun and you wanted me to, but then I attended them because I had nothing else better to do. Please, don't take it personnal. It has nothing against you. It's just that I'm not interested into living the life of rich people."

"Fine. So I will go back to my life of rich people."

"Grandma, please! Understand that what I said had nothing against you!"

"Maybe, but I feel attacked all the same."

And with that, Emily stormed out. Rory sat down and put down her head un her hands. Jess joined her and rubbed her back lightly.

"And now I'm in a fight with my grandmother...what's the thing with me and fights, ugh? This is like I attract them..."she said.

"Listen, give her the time to digest all of this. She can't be mad about this for the rest of her life!"

"Oh, you don't know Emily Gilmore! She can be mad for a long time!"

"If you say so...listen, for now, we will finish to move your stuff back to Stars Hollow, we'll send you back to Yale and you'll finish your community service work. Just live your life as you want to live it and let your grandmother deal with that. I'm sure she'll someday call you to tell you she's okay with the choices you made and that she prefers to see you happy and sure of yourself instead of unhappy and always doubting."

"Yeah...I guess I'll agree with you...do you think my grandfather will agree to continue to pay for Yale? I hope he won't be mad at me too. I would have a huge problem..."

"Don't worry about that for now, ok? Let's just finish packing your stuff and bring it back to Stars Hollow."

"Yeah. Good idea. What did you want to tell me when you got back?"

"Oh, um...I forgot to tell you that I borrowed Luke's truck, so if you have big stuff, we have space."

"Oh, ok. I don't have any big part, I think...oh, yeah, I have some. There's the mattress...actually, all the furniture that is in the room 'cause that's the stuff I had in my dorm at Yale."

"Ok. So...I'll let you finish with your clothes, so then we'll put your dresser in the truck, and also the mattress when the sheets will be gotten off of it."

"That sounds like a plan."

"Good. Just tell me when you're done."

"Fine!"

He kissed her on the forehead and got back to moving the boxes outside. About an hour and a half later, they finally finished to move everything that belonged to Rory into their vehicles and they went back to Stars Hollow...where they had to move everything into the house...but they got some help: Lane, Lorelei, Luke and Sookie, so the job ended up pretty fast. Once they've been done, Lorelei, Sookie and Luke went back to work and Lane stayed a little with Rory and Jess.

"So what's up?" Lane asked them.

Rory intertwined her fingers with Jess's before answering.

"Well...I'm back with Jess, I'm back here, I made up with my mom...and that's it, I think. Lane, I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for my attitude of the last months. I know that you needed me sometime and I wasn't there for you. I wasn't myself. I don't even know who I was..."

"Rory, you're forgiven. I know you went through a rough period, so I can't blame you. That whole thing with that Huntzberger man shouldn't have never happened. He didn't have any right to tell you that you weren't a good journalist 'cause we all know it's a lie. You've worked in the Stars Hollow High's paper, you worked in the Chilton's and Yale's paper and you were, still are and will always be the best. That Huntzberger was probably scared of you, so he went on defensive mode in order to blow you out before you could blow him out."

"Thanks Lane. That Huntzberger thing is over now. I dumped Logan yesterday and I feel so much better now...and I'll feel even better when my community service work will be done."

"I bet you will. Now I have to go, I told my mother I would be back right after I'm done here."

"Ok. I'll see you later then."

"Later!"

Lane stood up and left.


	4. Part 4

PART 4 

When the door closed, Rory rested her head on Jess's shoulder and silence fell for a moment. A comfortable silence.

"What do we do tonight?" Rory asked.

"I don't know. What do you want to do?"

"I don't know. Mom's working late tonight, so we have the house for us alone...Unless you want to go out."

"Actually, not really, but I'd like to get to my motel and take my stuff...I actually have the same clothes as yesterday...and I didn't shower either."

"Let's go get your stuff and get yourself showered, and then we'll decide what we'll do tonight."

"Sounds like a plan to me."

"Cool! Let's go."

She stood up so that he could do the same and they left for Hartford, Jess behind the wheel.

"Tell me" Rory began as Jess was parking the car in front of his room, "do you still have that piece of junk that you called a car?"

"It wasn't a piece of junk. That car, even if it was OLD, was doing a good job. But no, I don't have it anymore. The car that you can see on your left is mine."

He pointed to a black Honda Civic that was obviously younger than the car he had before.

"Oh, nice car" she commented as they were getting out of her car.

"Thanks."

They reached the door as he was searching for his key. He finally found it and let themselves in, turning on the light before closing the curtains. Rory sat down on the bed as Jess took out some clothes from his bag.

"Well, um..." he said. "I'm going in the shower. There's the TV and I have some books in my bag, so...I'll be right back."

"Ok" she answered before he gave her a kiss.

But after that kiss, she surprised herself to want more than that, so she brought her hand to his neck to keep him there. After a moment, she laid down on the bed, bringing Jess with her. Meanwhile, he decided to forget about the shower so he dropped down his clothes and put his hand to her hip. After a while, he lowered his lips on her jaw line and then on her neck. She closed her eyes, completely delighted. He tried to take off her sweat but with her lying down, it wasn't that easy, so he rolled over to get on his back to then make them sit. So he took off her sweat and kissed the skin that had just been revealed to him. He suddenly felt Rory's hands under his t-shirt, trying to take it off, so he lifted his arms to help her. She threw the t-shirt away and caught his mouth into a passionate kiss, making him to want to feel her closer, so he circled her waist with his arms and held her tight, without breaking the kiss. He made her lay back down and he made a trail of wet kisses from her neck to the bottom of her stomach before unbuckeling her belt, undo the button of the jean and take it off. After that, he went back to her lips, giving her what she was demanding. After a while, she made him roll on his back. It was her turn to take the control. She put a myriad of burning kisses on his chest before finally getting to his pants. She went for the belt...that she couldn't unbuckle. She shot him a pleading look, so he unbuckled it so that she could continue. As soon as she was done, he sat up and made her sit down with her back facing him. He began to kiss the back of her neck...when the shrilling sound of Rory's cell phone disturbed them. Jess groaned something about people and bad timing and Rory, counterheartedly, got up and went to her purse, took out the phone, hang up and turned it off. Jess smiled as she came back and they laid back down into a passionate kiss, him unhooking her bra in the process...Late the next morning, they were still asleep, Jess's head resting on Rory's back, their right hand linked together. Feeling Rory move under him, Jess woke up and got off of her back to allow her to move, not letting go of her hand. She turned her head and opened her eyes to see Jess looking at her. He smiled. She smiled back. He kissed her, she kissed him back. They had nothing to say. Nothing had to be said. Their eyes, the way they were looking at each other, were speaking for them.

"Hi" he said after a while.

"Hi" she answered before smiling lightly.

She leaned in for a kiss and Jess moved her closer to him.

"Finally, I haven't showered yet" he said after a moment of silence.

Rory giggled, lifting up her head to look at him.

"You wanna come shower with me?" she asked.

"Hmmm...tempting..."

"Let's go then" she whispered before giving her a quick kiss and running to the bathroom.

He sighed, smiled while shaking his head and ran to the bathroom too. An hour a half later, after they, um...showered...got dressed and packed Jess's stuff, they went to the registration office so that Jess could pay for the time he'd been there and they left for Stars Hollow, Jess with his car and Rory with her car. They both parked in the Gilmore driveway and Jess dropped his bag in Rory's bedroom. After that, they crashed down on the couch, Rory checking her voice-mail.

"Ok, that was weird" she said when she flipped her phone closed.

"What?"

"You know the phone call I didn't answer last night when we were...busy..."

"Yeah."

"Well it was Logan."

"What did he want?"

"I don't know, he just said to call him back, he'd like to talk to me."

"What's weird?"

"I just don't get why he wants to talk to me after he left all mad. I just hope he doesn't want to get back with me...'cause that will be in vain."

"Hmmm...poor guy" Jess said sarcastically. "Call him, you'll see."

"Yeah. Good idea."

She dialed Logan's mobile number and waited for him to answer.

"Logan Huntzberger."

"Hey Logan, that's Rory."

"Oh, hey."

"You wanted to talk to me?"

"Yeah, umm...I thought about what you told me the day before yesterday and I wanted to tell you that you are forgiven."

"Forgiven? What are you talking about?"

"I know that you are emotionnally unstable by now because of your ex that showed up and all, so I wanted to reassure you. That crisis you made that day, you're forgiven for it. You didn't mean what you said."

"What? Where did you get that? I'm not emotionnally unstable, Logan! I meant and still mean all that I said! I really miss my mother and my town, which is where I am right now! You and I are over, Logan! O-V-E-R! Over! Why don't you want to understand it!"

"I'm a Huntzberger! A..."

"Because you are a Huntzberger would mean doesn't get dumped by his girlfriend? Hey, listen to me one second, having an important last name doesn't mean that you can have all you want! I'd like to make you realize that I also have a big last name, okay? I'd never used it as a reason to explain everything! The world doesn't revolve around you! Bye!"

She hang up and sighed, frustrated.

"The guy's name's Huntzberger?" Jess said after a moment.

"Yup."

Jess tried not to laugh. Rory smiled and gently hit him in the ribs.

"Huntzberger...hamburger" Jess added, still trying not to laugh.

Rory giggled.

"If you call him hamburger, I swear he will kill you!" she said.

"You defend him?"

"No, it's just that I don't want you to be killed."

Jess stopped laughing and kissed her softly. They broke apart after a while and got silent again, Rory's head on Jess's lap, Jess gently stroking her hair.

"Um...Ror?"

"What?"

"I have to get back to Philly next week-end."

"But...it's too soon! I mean..."

"I know, but I have a job there...tell me, when do you meet the dean of Yale?"

"I don't know yet, why?"

"I was thinking that you could come with me until you go back to school. We could hang around and talk. What do you think?"

"That's a great idea. What time is it?"

"Ugh...2:15, why?"

"I'll call like right now to get an appointment with the dean as soon as possible so that we could sort out what to do next."

"Okay."

She got up to pick up the phone and went to her bedroom. She came back a minute later with some papers and sat back down next to Jess, dialing a number.

"_Yale University, dean of admissions office. how may I help you?"_

"Uh hi, I'd like to have an appointment with the dean, please."

"_Well, let's see...thursday, 1 pm?"_

"That's perfect."

"_Good. What's your name?"_

"Rory Gilmore."

"_What's the reason of this meeting, miss Gilmore?"_

"Um...I dropped out last semester and I want to go back."

"_Ok. So we'll see you on thursday at 1 pm, miss Gilmore."_

"Thank you!"

"_You welcome! Bye!_"

She hang up.

"So?"Jess asked.

"I meet the dean this thursday at 1 in the afternoon."

"Cool!"


	5. Part 5

PART 5 Next thursday, 5 minutes to 1, dean of admissions office, Yale 

Rory entered the office and went to meet the secretary.

"Good afternoon miss. How may I help you?"

"I am Rory Gilmore, I have an appointment at one with the dean."

"Please sit down and wait, I'll tell him."

"Thank you."

Rory sat down on one of the available chairs while the secretary was getting up and going to the office's door. She poked her head in and got it out a few seconds later.

"You can go miss Gilmore, mr. Johnson is waiting for you."

"Thanks."

She got up and entered the office.

"Good afternoon, miss Gilmore. Please, have a seat."

"Good afternoon, sir" she answered, sitting down.

"As my secretary told me, you want to come back."

"Yes sir."

"May I ask why?"

"Um...because I want to have this diploma I was here for. Some people made me doubt about my career choice. That's why I dropped out, but recently, a person made me understand that I belonged here, that those people only wanted to scare me so that I wouldn't steal their job. That person believes now in me as I once believed in her. Now nothing will stop me to be the journalist I want to be."

"Well, that's a pretty good explanation. I can't tell you now with certitude if we will agree to have you back, but you have good chances. Is there anything else?"

"Yes. If that's possible, I'd like to a dorm, please. I live at 30 minutes from here, but I won't be able to do my homework there. I need a place where I can concentrate."

"It's noted. Is there a number where I can reach you anytime?"

"Yes. I'll give you my cell phone number."

She took a piece of paper and a pen from her purse and wrote down her number, and then gave it to the dean.

"Thank you miss Gilmore. I'll call you as soon as a decision will be taken."

"Thank you sir."

She got out of the office and drove back to Stars Hollow. She got a call from the dean the next day during the evening that told her she could go back and to go in order to pick up her dorm key. She would start classes the second monday after that day. Rory told the good news to Jess and her mother and she packed up some stuff so that she could be ready when her and Jess would leave the next day. That night, Rory remembered her mother that she was going to Philadelphia with Jess for about a week the next morning and went to bed. The next morning, they left when Lorelei finally let her daughter go of her hug, telling her she'll miss her. They stopped by Yale so that Rory could pick up her dorm key and her schedule and they drove to Philadelphia. Jess finally parked his car in his building's parking lot after 4 hours on the road. They took their stuff and entered the building. They went up to the second floor. As Jess was looking for his key, a woman in her mid-fourties got out of the apartment in front of Jess's.

"Hey Jess!" she said.

"Oh, hey Deb. How are you?"

"I'm fine, and you? And who's that gorgeous girl with you?"

"That's my girlfriend, Rory. Rory, this is Deborah Morrisson, the only decent neighbour around here."

"Hi Rory, it's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, mrs. Morrisson."

"You can call me Deb, just like Jess does. You know Jess, if you did an effort to get to know your other neighbours, you'd have a diffrent opinion of them, and they'd have a different opinion of you."

"You know" Rory said, "he's always been like this. He's not very talkative with people he doesn't know."

"That I could tell" Debbie answered. "Well, I gotta go. See you later, lovebirds!"

"Bye Deb!" Jess said, unlocking the door before letting himself and Rory in.

Deborah left. Jess took Rory's bag and brought it into a room that she assumed to be his bedroom.

"Thank you for your support out there" he said, coming back.

"Anytime" she replied, smiling.

He smiled too.

"So this is my place. Not the biggest, but it's enough for me."

"That's enough for me too. You're alone here, aren't you?"

"Yes I am, but maybe I'll be less if you come, sometimes."

"Sure I'll come! When I can."

"Good to know. So...you're now in the living room, there's the kitchen and over there..."

He pointed in the direction he went earlier.

"The door on the left is the bedroom and the door on the right is the bathroom. Questions?"

"Nope."

"I got one. Two actually. The first one: are you okay with sharing a bed with me?"

"Yes. That's definitely not a problem."

"Good. Second question: are you hungry?"

"I'm starving."

"Are you up for pastas?"

"Sure."

"Ok, so...just make yourself home, I'll make us lunch."

Rory noticed that he was a little nervous. Thinking about it, she could tell she was a little nervous too: she was 4 hours away from home and alone with Jess in an apartment in Philadelphia. Obviously, she loved Jess, but she couldn't stop herself from being nervous. Being with Jess was something new to her...well, maybe not totally new, but it's been a long time since the last time. They were older, Jess had changed, so had she. It was kind of an adaptation for both of them. She went behind him and circled his waist with her arms.

"Are you nervous?" she asked him.

"Well" he said, turning around, "yeah, I am."

"So do I. This is all kind of new for us, ugh?"

"Yeah. This will be adaptation, but I think it will be great. We're older, I've changed since the last time and so have you...for the best, I'm sure...and this is actually the first time I'll share my personnal space with someone I actually love. The thought that you wouldn't like the place, or think it was too small hit me, so it made me nervous even more. I love you, you love me...I hope..."

"I do love you, Jess."

He smiled.

"So I love you, you love me" he continued. "What could be wrong?"

"Well...we could not stand being in the same room than the other at the same time, we could fight about who's taking which side of the bed, we could even not stand sleeping in the same bed! I..."

"Ror" he cut in, "it will be all right, ok? Nothing of that will happen. I think we stand being in the same room at the same time..."

"I agree."

"You can have the side of the bed that you want...what side do you prefer?"

"Left."

"So you'll sleep on the left side, I'll sleep on the right side. Finally, I think we stand sleeping in the same bed, we already did it a couple times...and nobody was kicked off."

"Actually, I was too tired to kick you off, so..."

"Hilarious."

"Thanks."

He shook his head.

"So...the conclusion I'm coming to is that it all will be alright. As soon as this stress will be over, it'll be great."

"Yeah. I think that too."

"Good."

He kissed her forehead and got back cooking.

"You need some help?"

"Ugh...no, but if you want you can take out forks, knives and plates."

"Ok. Where is it?"

"Ustensiles in the first drawer and the plates are in the first cabinet on the right, above the sink."

"Ok."

She picked out the stuff and put it down in front of the two stools that were behind the counter. About 10 minutes later, they sat down and ate. During the afternoon, Jess showed Rory a little around and brought her in some shops where she could go while he's at work if she doesn't want to stay in the apartment. He also showed her the little balcony his apartment had, and then it was dinner time. So they ate, washed the dishes, and watched _Almost Famous_, for old time's sake, and went to bed. Meanwhile, in Stars Hollow, Lorelei and Luke were in bed, still fully awake, trying to sort some things out.

"Do you think it's a good thing that Jess and Rory romance renewal thing? Or Jess' coming back?" Luke asked.

"I don't know" Lorelei answered. "In a way, he brought me back my daughter, brought her back to reality, and he really seems to be changed. He's been nice to me, no sarcastic or smartass comment, nothing of that. But I don't know yet if I can trust him."

"Otherwise, you seem to trust him enough to let Rory go with him to Philadelphia."

"Yeah, good point. You, what do you think of all this?"

"I don't really know. Jess really did changed. That book he wrote just shows how much work he's done to be the guy he is today. I think we should just...give him another chance. I know, we've given him a chance twice before, but something tells me that now, he's more trustworthy than a few years back. You said it yourself, he brought Rory back to you. He released her from that period she was living...tough period, actually..."

"Yeah. Really tough..."

"Do you know how it all started?"

"Well...Rory told me that Jess showed up at her dorm one night and asked her to give up her life and run away with him. She ''declined'', but she regretted it, so I guess that's where the falling down began. A while after, she slept with Dean (married Dean, as a matter of fact). I think that's where she nearly reached the bottom. And then, things went on, we fought, she left, she dropped out of Yale...Suddenly, Jess comes back in the picture and brings her back here, where she really belongs...so I think I'll agree with you to give the kid a chance. Let's just let them figure out what they want, if it's going to last, etc, etc...They're 21, they're old and mature enough to discuss that without parental guidance."

"I tend to agree with that."

She smiled to him. They were silent for a moment.

"You know what?" Lorelei asked. "They're gonna be something like step-cousins. What are we going to do about that?"

"I don't even want to think about it. We can't stop them dating because of that, no?"

"I don't know...it's not incest, is it?"

"I don't know...I don't think so...let's just let them being in love with each other...there's no blood relation, so I don't think there's a real problem. Do you?"

"No, I don't think there's a real problem. And, you know, I think they're conscious of the fact that they're going to be related...even if it's by alliance."

"Yeah. Probably."

And with that, they fell asleep minutes later.


	6. Part 6

PART 6 The next morning, Philadelphia 

Rory woke up late the next morning to the kisses that Jess was leaving on the back of her neck and her shoulders. She smiled and turned around before opening her eyes.

"Morning sunshine" Jess said.

"Morning" she replied, a little sleepily.

"You slept well?"

"Pretty well. And you?"

"Same. You hungry?"

"I'm starving."

"Good. I made breakfast."

"Oh, that's so nice. Thank you."

"That's nothing...and I guess I'll have to make you breakfast every morning you'll be here, since you don't cook, so...I have to get used to it."

"Maybe you could show me how to do some things some times so that you don't have to cook all the time."

"Sure. But actually I don't really hate cooking."

"Good to know."

"Well...shall we?"

"Yeah, let's go."

They got up and got out of the room, hand in hand. After breakfast, they showered, got dressed and met on the little balcony. It was sunny and surprisingly warm outside for a winter day. A beautiful day. They sat down on the chairs that Jess had taken out, Rory grabbing one of Jess's hands and staring right in front of her. They stayed like this for a moment, simply enjoying each other's presence.

"Tell me" Jess said after a moment "how much time do you have left in Yale?"

"Ugh...three years, since I haven't finished last term" she answered. "Why?"

"Oh, I only wanted to know. Do you think we'll still be together by then?"

"I hope so. I was actually planning on spending the rest of my life with you."

He smiled.

"I was kind of planning that too, but there's a thing..."

"What is it?"

"Well...during those 3 years you are going to be at Yale, are we going to try a long distance thing?"

"I don't think we have many other options, and I don't think you want to leave your job here, do you?"

"Not really. I kind of like it."

"That's what I thought. And I don't want to change university. So I think we'll just have to do that long distance thing. But you know, we could see each other during spring break, then summer break, thanksgiving and Christmas holiday, plus on week-ends you come to Yale or I come here. And we'll call each other often too. I don't think it'll be as hard as it seems."

"Yeah, I hope so. I don't want to lose you again."

"Hey, we'll make it work, okay?"

He nodded.

"When you'll be done with Yale, where will you want to live?"

"I don't know yet. It will depends on the job I'll have, I think, but maybe Philly will be part of my options. I like it here."

"Really?"

"Yup."

"Good news. I like it here too."

"Don't be too optimistic, my mind has plenty of time to change."

"Yes ma'am."

She laughed.


	7. Part 7

**PART 7**

The next few days went by in a blur…and too fast for both of them. Jess not being able to drive her back to New Haven and come back in time, they were waiting at the bus station for her bus to come, sitting on a bench, Rory's head resting on his shoulder.

"I don't want to leave" she suddenly blurted out.

"And I don't want you to go...but you have to. You have to finish Yale." he answered.

"I know...but now that we're back together, it's like nothing else matters to me. I don't want to waste any second far from you."

"Me neither, but, look..." he stopped, not knowing what to say next. "It's not like I'm leaving you behind again. You can call me whenever you want to...except maybe when I'm working..."

"I know that too...I'm just worried, that's all. I'll get over it."

He looked at her for a second then kissed her forehead. They stayed silent for a few more minutes until Rory's bus arrived.

"I think I have to go" she said but not making any move to stand up.

"Yeah" he said, not moving either.

A minute later, she finally stood up, grabbing her bags in the process, and Jess stood up too, then they walked to the coach. She dropped her bags in the luggage compartment then turned to him.

"I gotta go" she said. "School's beginning tomorrow and I have to settle in first."

"Well...have a nice trip, then."

She gave him a fake offended look and he just smirked then pulled her to him and kissed her.

"I love you" he said after they parted.

"I love you too" she answered. "I'll see you soon?"

"Definitely."

She smiled then kissed him again before reluctantly letting go and boarding the bus. He stayed there until he couldn't see it anymore and went back home. A few hours later, she finally stepped off of the coach. She went to take her bags then left the bus station for Yale. On her way there, she decided to call Jess to let him know she had safely arrived.

"_Hello?_" his voice said on the phone.

"Hey, it's me" she said, smiling.

"_Oh, hey. You're in New Haven?_"

"Yup. I arrived just minutes ago and I'm on my way to the campus. I was calling just to let you know I had safely arrived...and to hear your voice 'cause I already miss you."

"_I already miss you too. It feels empty without you here_" he paused. "_Deb asked me something that was kind of embarrassing when I got back from the bus station..._"

"What is it?"

"_Well...she asked me if it was possible for me to ask to be more quiet..._"

"More quiet? About what?"

She suddenly understood what he meant and she blushed furiously.

"Oh...oh my god...I feel so embarrassed right now..."

"_And how do you think I'm feeling, huh? It's quite embarrassing for me too._"

"Yeah...I can imagine...just tell her that I'll try to be more quiet the next time...oh my god..."

He laughed lightly.

"_I'll tell her_" he said. "_Look, I have to go, I have some shopping to do before the stores close, okay?_"

"Okay. Call me when you get back from work tomorrow?"

"_Sure. I love you._"

"Love you too. Bye."

She pressed the "end" button then decided to call her mother.

"_Offspring!_" Lorelei answered.

"Hey mom! How are you?"

"_Better now that I hear from you. And you?_"

"I'm fine. I'm really, really fine."

"_So, why are you calling? Not that I'm complaining,but..._"

"I just arrived from Philadelphia."

"_Oh, right. How was your week?_"

"It was great. Well...we were both nervous at the beginning, but that feeling got away quite quickly so the rest of the week was really great...it even passed too fast, I already miss him..."

"_Ah, honey. I know what it is. I'm glad you had a great week. How's his place?_"

"It's nice. Not that big, but it's enough. You should see his book collection! It's huge!"

"_You mean that he has more books than what he had in Luke's appartment?_"

"Yes. And what you saw in Luke's appartment was nothing. Three of the four walls of the living room are full with books, floor to ceiling. He also has a shelf in his bedroom that is overloaded. And my collection's supposed to be big..."

"_Wow._"

They talked until Rory had reached the campus. There, she found her dorm...which she was sharing with, once again, Paris, who didn't know who she was sharing with until Rory came in.

"Rory?" Paris said from the couch.

"Yeah, it's me."

"Wow. I was so nervous to know who was my roommate. I'm glad it's you."

"I'm glad it's you too. And I'm happy to be back."

"Glad to hear it. Welcome back."

"Thanks."

They hugged briefly then Rory went to unpack her things. Paris helped her while catching up.

"So, how's Huntzburger?" Paris asked while she was unpacking books.

"Well...I'm not with him anymore. I dumped him about two weeks ago."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Hey, you'll never know who got me out of all the crap I was in."

"No, who?"

"Jess."

"Jess?"

"Yeah, Jess."

"Wow. I mean...He didn't seem to be the I-help-the-others type."

"He's changed, Paris. And for the better."

"That's great."

"Definitely."

They talked more while unpacking then when they sat down for dinner and until they went to bed. The next day, Rory went nervously to her classes but she relaxed when the people she knew welcomed her back. As promised, Jess called her when he got back from work and they talked for almost all the evening. A few nights later, Rory got a phone call from her mother.

"Hey mom!"

"_Spring break!_"

"What about spring break?"

"_My wedding, I want it during spring break._"

"Oh."

"_What do you think?_"

"I think it's a good idea."

"_And I want you to be my maid of honor._"

"Sure!"

"_Wanna come shopping with me next weekend?_"

"Definitely!"

"_Great!_"

"Hum...mom?"

"_Yes hun?_"

"Could you come and pick me up Friday after my class?"

"_Uh...sure. What time?_"

"Huh...2."

"_Okay. I'll be there._"

"Thanks."

"_No problem. I have to go, Luke's calling me._"

"I so don't want to know why."

She hang up and got back to her homework. Minutes later, the phone rang again.

"Can't a girl have peace!" she exclaimed before answering, a little annoyed. "Hello?"

"_Hey, am I disturbing you?_" Jess asked on the other end of the line.

"Ah, you, never" she said happily. "What's up?"

"_Well, I just had a phone call from my uncle._"

"Luke?"

"_Yup, Luke._"

"What did he want?"

"_He wants me to be his best man at his wedding._"

"That's great! I mean...did you agree?"

"_Yeah, why not? After all he did for me, I've never done anything to thank him. That's the least I can do._"

"Ah, it's nice of you."

"_Don't tell anyone, my reputation could be compromised._"

She laughed.

"We wouldn't want that, huh?" she asked.

She paused.

"You know what, my mom just asked me to be her maid of honor. And I, as maid of honor, have to make-out with the best man. Good for me it's you!"

"_Huh. I would have killed the other guy._"

"I feel so privileged. Anyway, if it hadn't been you, I would just have had to walk down the aisle and share a dance with him. Now that it's you, I think there are more things I can do with the best man..."

"_I don't dance._"

"Oh no mister, you won't get out of that one. You'll dance."

"_Will not._"

"You will."

"_Will not._"

"You will."

"_Will not._"

"Will not."

"_I will. Ah, dammit!_"

"Ha! Gotcha! Jess, I only ask you one dance. And it will be the first dance of the newlyweds. We can't get out of that one anyway."

"_Fine. But just that one._"

"It's fine for me. Look, I have to hung up, I want to finish my homeowrk tonight, okay? Mom's coming to pick me up tomorrow after my class so I won't have anytime to work this weekend."

"_Okay. I let you get back to your work. I'll talk to you later._"

"Ok. Love ya."

"_Love you too. Bye._"

With that, they both hang up and Rory could finally get over with her homework. The next day, as planned, Lorelei was waiting in her jeep near her daughter's dorm for her daughter to come out. She finally appeared at 2:05 with a backpack on on of her shoulders, which she put in the jeep's trunk before sitting in the passenger's seat.

"Hey mom" she said happily.

"Hey hun. Ready to go?"

"Yup!"

So Lorelei pulled out of the parking lot and drove to Stars Hollow. She dropped Rory at Luke's then went back to work, telling her she would see her for dinner at Luke's. Rory entered the diner and took a seat at the counter.

"Hello Rory" Luke said.

"Hey Luke. How are you?"

"Good, and you?"

"Good too. Can I please have a to-go cup of coffee?"

"Sure. Comin' right up."

"Thanks."

Luke turned around to prepare her order. He gave it to her a few seconds later.

"So, how are things with Jess?" he asked after he had given her the to-go cup.

She grinned.

"They're great. He's really changed, huh?"

"Yeah. But I like that new Jess."

"Me too. He's more opened. He's less afraid of his feelings. I think this relationship can just work from now on. I think...I think last time was at a bad time. The timing wasn't right."

"I tend to agree with you. He was mad at his mother...nothing was going right in his life at that time. But I still think nothing better could have happened to him than you, Rory."

She blushed lightly.

"You succeeded to knock some sense in him. He was beginning to change...Until he started neglecting school...as well as you. I wish he hadn't turned like that, but I can't do anything about that. Liz raised...well...I can't say she really raised him, but...anyway. His mother raised him like that. Since she wasn't living here when she had Jess, I couldn't have helped her. But now I see where Jess has gone and I'm proud of him. I'm glad he finally made something of his life. And I'm glad he's still young after he found a meaning to his life. I now trust him more and I have no objection with you two seeing each other...even if you're going to be step-cousins soon..."

"Don't even talk about it, please. Anyway, I don't care. We're not related by blood, only by alliance. It doesn't matter to me. I love him, that's all that counts."

"Yeah. I don't want to even think about that."

"Well, it was a nice talk, Luke, but I think I'll go home and unpack before mom come home 'cause I know I won't be able to unpack with her around. I'll see you for dinner."

"Sure thing. See you later!"

"Later!"

And Rory left. As she was passing by the square, she heard her name being called, and soon, Lane joined her.

"Hey Lane!" she said as she hugged her best friend. "How are you? It's been ages!"

"I know. I'm fine, and you?"

"I'm really good. Want to come with me to unpack my stuff? We could catch up in the same time."

"Sure!"

And they walked together to the Crap Shack. A few hours later, they headed to Luke, where Rory was supposed to meet her mother for dinner. They separated and Rory entered the diner. She joined her mother at a table near the window.

"Hey mom."

"Hey hun. I already ordered since you were taking your time to come."

"Did you order for me?"

"Yes."

"Thanks. So, what are we doing tomorrow?"

"Wedding dress shopping for me and maid of honor dress shopping for you. Oh! and shoes."

They grinned.

"Sounds great. What time do we leave?"

"I was thinking 8."

"You think you can wake up that early?"

"When it come to shopping, always."

"Okay then."

Luke arrived with their plates, put them in front of the girls then went back to work. That night, the girls talked until Luke's arrival then went to bed. The next day, the girls left Stars Hollow after a quick breakfast at Luke's and headed to Harford for their first bridal store of the day. At lunch time, they still hadn't found anything, much to Lorelei's discouragement. In the afternoon, they shopped for Rory's maid of honor dress, which they found quite quickly. It was of a light shade of blue, strapless and asymetrical. It was simple, but Rory looked beautiful in it.

"You look amazing, hun" Lorelei said when Rory got out of the changing room. "Jess's going to go insane. Just try no to be more beautiful than me, please?"

"I promise" Rory answered, smiling. "You really think it suits me well?"

"I just told you, hun. You look amazing. Now go and change back so that we can go shoe shopping to ma my morale up again."

"Okay!"

Minutes later, Rory re-emerged out of the changing room. She went to pay for the dress then they excitedly went to the shoe store. A couple of new pairs of shoes later, right on time for dinner, they entered Luke's.

"Hey girls" Luke said, "take a seat, I won't be long."

"Anywhere?" Lorelei asked.

"Anywhere."

Lorelei approached a table that was already taken.

"Could you please move?" she asked the couple sat at the table.

Luke arrived and pushed her to the nearest empty table.

"I hate when you to that. Now sit, I'll come and take your order in a minute."

"Okay."

He gave her a quick kiss before going back to what he was doing. Rory and Lorelei sat down and waited for Luke to come. After dinner, they went home and, after they had put away the stuff they had bought, they met in front of the tv. The next day, Rory went back to Yale after another day of shopping with her mother, who had maybe found THE dress.

_**Sorry for the time I took to update, school's keeping me really busy...Please review!**_


	8. Part 8

**PART 8**

Weeks went by and the next thing Rory knew, it was the day before Valentine's day. Fortunately for her, Valentine's day was on a Saturday and since her Friday's classes had been cancelled, she decided to head to Philadelphia and surprise Jess. She arrived there after a five hours bus ride. She walked to his appartment and let herself in since he was at work (Jess had given her a key the last time they had seen each other, which was about two weeks earlier). She looked at the time: 4:00 PM. Jess would be back in about an hour, so she decided to grab a book and read until he would be back.

Around 5:05, Jess arrived at his appartment and, as usual, took out his keys to unlock the door and let himself in. Since he hadn't heard the locket make "toc!", he wondered if he hadn't forgotten to lock the door before leaving that morning. He entered silently, wondering if there was anyone, then closed the door. Rory, in the living room, smiled when she heard the door and got up to go meet Jess. The surprise on his face when he saw her was worth it.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" he finally managed to get out.

"Well, today's classes were cancelled, so I decided to suprise you."

"Yeah. For a surprise, this is surprise. I'm glad you're here, though."

"Glad to hear it."

She approached and kissed him.

"Did I say hi?" she asked after they had parted.

"I don't think so."

"Hi."

He smiled.

"Hi" he replied.

They kissed again for a while, then let go.

"Are you hungry?" he asked.

"You ask a Gilmore if she is hungry at dinner time?"

"Yeah. Don't know what I was thinking."

She laughed as she followed him in the kitchen.

"So, beside surprising me, why are you here?" he asked as he was taking something out of a cabinet.

"Well" she answered after she had sat on a stool, "you know what day it is tomorrow, don't you?"

"Huh..."

He thought for a second.

"Valentine's day, right?" he continued.

"Right. And I didn't want to spend the day alone with all those people with bouquets of flowers and chocolate around."

"I see. You know, I was planning on going to New Haven after work, tonight, but since you're here, I don't have to anymore."

"In other words, I saved you the trip."

"Yup."

"Glad to be of help!"

"Hey, I was kidding. I'm really happy you're here. And I don't care to do a five hours road trip to see you."

"I don't care either."

She smiled to him before he kissed her then he went back to cooking. Rory's cell phone began to ring, so she got up and went to her purse.

"Hello?" Rory answered without checking the caller's ID.

"_Rory, where are you?_" her mother's panicked voice said.

"Oh, hi mom. I'm in Philadelphia, with Jess."

"_What are you doing there? Didn't you have classes today?_"

"Yeah, but they were cancelled, so I decided to come and surprise Jess. I'm sorry. It was a kind of spur of the moment thing and I forgot to call to tell you I wouldn't be coming this week-end."

"_Ok, you're forgiven, but don't do that to me ever again!_"

"I promise."

"_So, wanted to spend the week-end alone with your boyfriend?_"

"Yup. But I just learned that he was planning on going to New Haven tonight after work."

"_Hmmm...ruins a little your plan._"

"Yeah, but I think he got over it. He's making dinner right now."

"_Ah...what would we do without those guys, huh?_"

"I don't know...Logan never cooked, neither did I, and Dean...we never got to that point. So, basically, we would live on take-out and junk food."

"_I guess. Look, I gotta go. Dinner with Sookie and Jackson tonight. Call me when you arrive in New Haven, ok?_"

"Sure! Bye!"

"_Bye kid!_"

Rory hang up and went back to her stool.

"That was your mom?" Jess asked.

"Yeah. I forgot to call her to tell I was heading here for the week-end, so she kinda freaked out."

"Quite understandable with all those months without any news from you."

"I know...I'm trying really hard to return to the person I was before, but there are some things I forgot about the other Rory that stop me from changing back."

He faced her and cupped her face in his hands.

"I know that. And I ask nothing else than to help you go back to the other Rory. But just know one thing: I love you and always will, no matter which Rory you are, ok?"

She nodded with teary eyes then hugged him tightly.

"Thank you Jess. I love you too."

They stayed in that position for a moment, then Jess pulled away a little and kissed her shortly but passionately. Then he fully pulled away to go finish the dinner.

The next day, Rory woke up the the strong smell of coffee and to kisses left on the back of her neck.

"Morning" she said sleepily.

"Morning sunshine. Happy Valentine's day" Jess replied.

She smiled, turning around to face him. She noticed his clothes.

"Hey, you've been awake for long?"

"Hmmm...yeah. Figured you'd want coffee and breakfast when you wake up."

"That's knowing me well."

"I know. C'mon, get dressed, breakfast's ready."

"Ok. I'll be out in a minute."

He kissed her briefly then left. She arrived in the kitchen five minutes later.

"Something smells good" she said.

He turned to her, handing her a cup of coffee.

"Sit" he said.

Which she did, sipping her coffee. Seconds later, he put down a plate in front of her, sitting down too. They began to eat.

"What are we going to do today?" she asked after a while.

"Well, one of my co-workers's coming over so I can help him with something. He said he would bring his girlfriend, so you won't be alone while I help Jake. As for tonight, I thought we could go have dinner somewhere, just the two of us."

"I love the idea...but I think I forgot to bring clothes for that."

"You could go shopping with Marissa when I'll be with Jake, so you'll be ready for tonight."

"Huh...okay, but...I don't even know her or Jake."

"I'm sure you'll like her. She's kind of a mix of your mother and Lane. You two will get along."

"I guess I just have to take your word for it, then. And I feel like I don't really have the choice, anyway."

"It's almost that. Jake told me that he wanted Marissa to not be there, so I offered that you spend the afternoon with her while she's away. The shopping's just a plus."

"Ok, then. What does Jake want you to help him with?"

"I don't know, he didn't tell me. But I have my idea."

"And what is it?"

"See, they've been together for 4 years, and I think I saw Jake coming out of a jeweller, earlier this week, so I think he's gonna ask her to marry him."

"Oh. I see. Well, shopping with Marissa this afternoon it is, then. And I'll take my time. Just call me when it'll be ok to come back."

"Sure thing."

She smiled then they finished eating and washed the dishes. A few hours later, a buzz was heard in the appartment. Jess went to the interphone and pressed a button.

"Yeah?" he said.

"_Hey Mariano! It's Jake!_" a voice said.

"Oh, hi Jake. Hold on, I'll open."

"_Thanks!_"

He pressed another button during a couple of seconds before letting go. A minute later, someone knocked on the door. Jess immediately opened it while Rory was arriving. A man a little taller than Jess with brown hair and dark eyes came in, soon followed by a girl of about Rory's height with red hair and green eyes.

"Hey Jake, hi Marissa" Jess greeted them before closing the door.

"Hi Jess" Marissa said shyly.

"Hey Jess" Jake said.

The latter turned to Rory and smiled curiously.

"Hello" he told her. "I don't think I know you."

"Guys, this is Rory, my girlfriend" Jess said, pulling Rory to him by the waist.

"Oh, so it's you, the infamous and mysterious Rory. I'm glad to finally meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too, Jake."

"Here's my girlfriend Marissa."

"Hi Rory" Marissa said.

"Hi" Rory answered, waving a little. "Tell me, Marissa, wanna come shopping with me this afternoon? Jess's taking me out for dinner tonight and I forgot to bring the right clothes. Since I don't really know the good places, I thought you could help me."

"Sure! I love shopping!"

"Cool! What about we go now and we leave the boys to whatever business they have to take care of?"

"Good idea!"

Rory smiled then turned to Jess.

"Can I borrow your car?" she asked him.

"Sure. I'll just go get the keys."

"And I'll go get my purse and jacket. Excuse us for a second."

"No problem" Jake and Marissa said.

Rory and Jess went to the bedroom.

"Good job" Jess said, reaching for his keys in his previous day's pants.

"What for?" Rory asked, putting on her jacket.

"What you told Marissa."

"Well, it's the truth, no?"

"Yes, but not all of it."

"She doesn't know. So what?"

"Good point. Here."

He handed her his keys while she was picking up her purse.

"Thanks" she said before kissing him.

They left the bedroom.

"Just don't crash it" Jess couldn't stop himself from saying.

"Aha. Last time someone crashed a car, it was my car and YOU were behind the wheel. So you shouldn't speak."

"Yeah yeah..." he trailed off as they arrived back in the entryway.

"Ready to go?" Marissa asked Rory.

"Yup. See you later guys!"

She kissed Jess while Marissa kissed Jake and they left.

"So, for what did you need my help?" Jess asked Jake after the door was closed, going in the living room.

"See...I was kinda expecting you to give me some advice on how I could propose to Marissa."

"Me? As far as I can remember, I've never asked anyone to marry me, so why me?"

"Well, the other guys never had a serious girlfriend, so I thought that since you had one, you could help me."

"Um...it's kinda hard. Sure, I'd like to marry Rory one of these days, but it won't be for at least another 2 years. We've been back together for barely a month. I can't see how I could be of help."

"Maybe...but how would you propose to Rory? She's kinda special for you, isn't she? Marissa's special for me too. Would you do something crazy?"

"I don't know...I'm more the kind of guy to do it in private, far from unwanted attention. What would you be ready to do for Marissa?"

"Anything."

"Helps a lot..."

Meanwhile, the girls were in Jess's car, Rory driving with Marissa's indications to a shopping mall.

"How long have you been with Jess?" Marissa asked.

"Well...I've been with him for almost a year when we were 17, then things went wrong and he disappeared...as for today, it's been about a month."

"You've been with him before?"

"Yes."

"How did you guys meet? Turn right at the next stop."

"Ok. You see, his mother had sent him to live with his uncle, who's a friend...well...today he's my mother's fiancé, but...anyway. Jess was sent to live with his uncle because his mother couldn't deal with him anymore. He was kind of a trouble maker. So that's how we met. He came to live in my town. We had been good friends until my mother's best friend's wedding. I kissed him while I already had a boyfriend. I didn't talk to him until I got back from a trip in Washington D.C...and he was mad, and had a girlfriend. I was jealous of her, so that's how I realized I had feelings for Jess."

"Wow. Why did he disappear? Take next left, the mall will be at the end of the road."

"Thanks. I don't really know why he disappeared. His uncle told me something about him not graduating and his father, who he had never met since he had left when he was born, that had showed up. It's still pretty unclear and I don't know yet if I want to know all the story. I have some cleaning in my head to do before being sure of anything, anyway, beside the fact that I want to be with Jess. We're there!"

She pulled in a parking space and they both got out of the car then walked to the entrance.

"How did you meet again, you and Jess, if he had disappeared?"

"Well, Jess came back three times in my life. The first, he told me he loved me then ran off."

"Ouch."

"Wait, you don't know about the second time. He showed up at my dorm at Yale to ask me to run away with him, telling me we were meant to be, that I could trust him. But I said no, braking both our hearts in the process. That's when everything in my life turned all wrong. I'll explain when I'll be ready. The third time he appeared, it was about a month ago. He wanted to show me the book he had written. He also told me he had finally got his life together...when mine was all screwed up. We talked. I was happy to see him. We ate dinner together the next night, but my boyfriend showed up and caused trouble, so Jess left. A few nights later, I called Jess to apologize for my boyfriend's attitude and to tell him I wanted to talk about his book. He invited me in his motel room, we talked about his book, of course, but we also...you know... slept together. We've been together since then."

"Wow. I mean...that's incredible. Jess came back to you even after you had broken his heart. He's so strong."

"Yeah, he is, even if he doesn't want to admit it."

"I think you two make a beautiful couple."

Rory smiled to her.

"Thank you" she said sincerely. "You and Jake make a beautiful couple too."

"Thank you Rory. So, what would you like to wear tonight?"

"I don't know. I don't know where Jess is taking me."

"You could go with a skirt and a blouse, it's pretty but not too much. It works for any kind of place you could think of going to. And knowing Jess, it won't be some cheap rathole."

"Ok. I think I'll go with your idea."

They smiled to each other and entered a shop. About three hours later, the girls could finally go back to Jess's appartment. Jake and Marissa left not long after she and Rory had come back. Rory sat down beside Jess on the couch after she had dropped her bags in the bedroom.

"How did it go?" Jess asked.

"It was great. She's really nice. I like her."

"Told you."

She playfully hit him on the arm.

"And you? What did Jake want your help for?"

"For what I thought."

"Oh. When is he gonna do it?"

"Tonight."

"Wow. That's great."

"Yeah. So, have you found something?"

"Yup. But you won't see it beforehand."

"I won't have to wait too long, we leave in an hour and a half."

"What? Couldn't you have told me earlier? I don't know if I'll have enough time to get prepared!"

"Rory, relax. It's not as if I had made a reservation...well, I did, but it's due in two hours and we're not far from the place, so calm down, you'll have enough time. You can take a shower first."

She took a deep breath to calm down.

"Thanks" she said before kissing him and leaving for the bathroom.

An hour and a quarter later, Rory was ready. Jess wasn't yet, though.

"You're taking ages!" she yelled through the appartment, amused.

"It's not my fault if my hair doesn't want to behave!" came Jess's reply from the bathroom.

She giggled. A minute later, he finally got out and met her in the living room. She was wearing a black knee-length skirt with a white blouse along with leather knee-length high-heels boots. Jess was all in black.

"You look beautiful" he complimented her.

"You don't look bad yourself" she replied, smiling sweetly.

"Ready to go?"

"Yes."

"Let's go then."

He made her put on her jacket then he put on his own and they left after he had locked the door. They arrived at the restaurant about 20 minutes later. The hostess greeted them.

"Happy Valentine's day, young people. How may I help you?"

"I have a reservation" Jess answered.

"What's your name?"

"Jess Mariano. 6:30 for two."

She searched the name.

"Ah yes. Your table's not ready yet."

"It's ok. We'll wait."

"Ok then."

They got to their table about 10 minutes later. It took them about two hours to eat, around speaking of nothing in particular or animated debates on music or Ayn Rand versus Ernest Hemingway.

"So, how was your week?" Jess asked as they were heading back to the appartment.

"Huh...horrible. I woke up late every morning so I had to hurry to eat breakfast and head to my classes. There was also all those people that were walking around with bouquets of red roses and chocolate boxes...I'm sick and tired to see all this. And on top of it all, there was Paris that didn't stop to annoy me all week with her date with Doyle of tonight. I just wanted to kill her before I left."

"I guess the flowers and the chocolate ar out of the picture this year..."

"You didn't buy some, did you?"

"No, not yet. But it was one of my options for tomorrow morning when you wake up after a long night of hot sex with me...I guess I'll just scratch it from my list."

"You don't have to buy me a present because it's Valentine's day, you know. Your presence is enough for me."

"I sort of thought you would say that. I think I'll stick to that."

Rory smiled widely and kissed him. Minutes later, they arrived at the building where Jess lived and entered.

"So, a long night of hot sex with you, huh?" Rory asked as Jess was opening the door of his appartment.

He shrugged.

"I figured we could do that since it's Valentine's day and that it's habitually the favorite activity of couple that night" he answered, taking off his jacket.

"I see."

He gave her a questionning look. She just laughed before circling his neck with her arms and kissing him. He immediately answered and his hands went automatically to her hips. Seconds later, the kiss deepened and he circled her waist to pull her closer to him. He began to guide her towards his bedroom as she was unbutonning his shirt. The next morning, when she woke up, Rory found herself alone in the bed. She saw a piece of paper in three near her head, so she sat up before reading it:

"_My beautiful and amazing Rory,_

_you told me you didn't want to see any roses or chocolate box ever again, so I tried to find another original way to tell you how I feel about you. You know I'm not good at expressing myself out loud, so I decided to write. The last time I did that, there were good results, so I'm taking another chance at it. So here I am, writing to you._

_First of all, don't worry, I'm not gone or anything. As you read this, I'm in the kitchen making you breakfast. I'll never leave you again, I promise. I'll need a pretty good reason to leave you. Last time was a huge mistake, but at the same time a good thing, regarding the man I am right now. I wanted to grow up by myself, show everyone, but mostly you, that I could do it on my own. I wasn't supposed to need you like this, to fall in love with you. But there it is, it happened, but I wouldn't change that for anything. So in the summer I was in California, I got my G.E.D. and I took a few classes at UCLA in writing and publishing. I liked it. But I had to leave 'cause my father was kicking me out. We didn't get along very well. I tried to transfer universities, but NYU and Columbia didn't want be. I moved back to New York even if I didn't have a real motivation to go there and found myself living with four other guys in a small appartment. You could call it a rathole. I lived there until not long after my mother's wedding. You rejecting me at your dorm made me realize later I needed to do something of myself. I moved out of that rathole and lived on the road for a while, writing down souvenirs of you and me, my feelings back in Stars Hollow when we were 17...I ended here, in Philadelphia, crashing in the appartement of a guy (Jake) I had met in a bar one night. On a day I was away job hunting, he found my notebook with all my thoughts and souvenirs. He told me when I got back that I should make a book of it. I was first mad at him (you know me...) for finding it, but more I was thinking about it, more I thought it was a good idea. When my first draft was written, Jake presented me to his boss, who had been clearly impressed by what I had written (that's what the guy said, I'm not making up anything, I promise). So a while later, I found myself being published, but with some conditions; one of those being that I had to sell myself to the book stores. Can you imagine the amount of pride it cost me? And that's how I found myself back in Connecticut._

_I visited my uncle Luke and asked him about you. He said he and Lorelei hadn't heard of you for weeks and mentionned something about you stealing a boat and dropping out of Yale. I was too shocked to listen to the rest. Nonetheless, I wanted to see you to show you my book and how I had changed. Until the night I visited you, I thought I had gotten over you, that I had moved on. But when we went for dinner (before Logan showed up, that is), I realized it was the complete opposite. That's it Ror: I never stopped loving you since that day I left you without even saying goodbye. If I had stayed, things wouldn't be what they are today. We probably wouldn't be together anymore and we probably would be hating each other. In one way, it's a good thing that I left. _

_I love you Ror. I always had and always will. The roses and the chocolate would just be a material way to show it. Love is in the heart (I think I'll keep that one in mind...)._

_With all my love, _

Jess" 

One hand on her mouth, Rory smiled through the tears that were falling down on her cheeks. She dropped the letter on the bed and wiped the tears. She was about to stand up when she noticed Jess's presence in the doorway. She got up quicker and ran to him to hug him. He hugged her back, closing his eyes.

"I love you too" she told him after a while.

He just hugged her tighter. They stayed like that for a while before Rory made their foreheads touch.

"Thank you for telling me all this" she said, tears still falling down.

"You had the right to know" he answered simply, reaching for her cheek with one hand.

He then gave her a slow but long kiss, wiping her tears away. When they stopped, he looked at her, his hand still cupping her face, his thumb caressing her cheek. She smiled, leaning in his touch. They stayed like that for a while, until Jess noticed that Rory had only a sheet to cover herself. He smiled lightly.

"What?" she asked softly.

"You're beautiful" he simply said.

She answered by a genuine smile.

"Thanks" she added.

Another moment of silence passed until Jess breathed in deeply.

"Come on, go get dressed, breakfast's ready" he told her.

"Ok."

He gave her a quick kiss on the lips then went back to the kitchen. Rory re-entered the romm and reached in her suitcase for something to wear. She emerged out of the room a while later wearing jeans and a pink t-shirt. She found Jess in the kitchen, filling a cup with coffee.

"Hey" she said before giving him a peck on the cheek and taking the mug.

"Hey yourself" he replied. "Your plate's on the table, waiting for you."

"Oh good, I'm starving."

He smiled as she turned around and walked to the table. He soon followed and sat down across from her. Sometime during breakfast, the phone rang. Jess picked it up.

"Hello?" he said, sitting back down at the table.

"_Hey man!_" Jake's voice said in the phone.

"Hey Jake! How are you?"

"_Ah, man! I couldn't be better! I'm so happy!_"

"So I take it that you proposed and she said yes?"

"_Yeah. I'm the happiest man on the planet, right now._"

"Congratulations, man. It's great. I'm happy for you."

"Hey, tell him congrats" Rory said from in front of him.

"Rory says congrats too" Jess repeated to Jake.

"_Thanks guys. We appreciate it_" Jake answered.

"You deserve this, man. Marissa's a great girl" Jess replied.

"_One day it will be your turn, man, and I swear it's worth the nervousness you go through just before._"

"Duly noted."

"_Hey, you guys wanna have dinner with us tonight to celebrate?_"

"Huh...Rory has to go back to Yale in the afternoon. Sorry."

"_Lunch, then? Just before she leaves?_"

"Hold on, I'll ask her."

He put his hand over the microphone.

"Hey Ror, Jake's inviting us for lunch to celebrate their engagement just before you leave. You interested?"

"Huh...Sure. Why not?"

"Cool."

Jess took off his hand.

"Hey Jake, we'll be there."

"_Cool man!_"

Minutes later, after Jake had given him the details for the lunch, Jess hang up. He and Rory finished eating breakfast, talking about Jake and Marissa's engagement, then went to take a shower. A while after, Rory packed the stuff she had brought after she had gotten dressed. She dropped her suitcase in Jess's car's trunk and they left for the restaurant where they had to meet Jake and Marissa. Two hours and a half later, Jess drove Rory to the bus station. She bought her ticket and they waited together for her bus to arrive. When it finally pulled up, they both got up and Jess carried her suitcase to the bagage compartment.

"So I guess I'll see you for the wedding" Rory said not long before she had to get on the bus.

"I'll try to come up next week or the other after next. I don't want to spend a whole month without seeing you."

"Me neither."

The bus driver gave his last call.

"It's time for me to go" Rory said quickly before kissing him shortly but passionnately. "Last night was wonderful. I love you."

"Love you too babe. I'll see you soon, okay?"

Sje smiled then nodded just before she stepped on the bus, which pulled off not long after. Jess stayed there until he couldn't see it anymore then went back to his car to drive back to his appartment.

_**That's it for now. What do you think of this chapter? Please review!...and give me some ideas 'cause I'm kind of stuck here right now...**_


	9. Part 9

**_Hey, it's me. I'm sorry for the time I took to update, I was kind of in a writer's block...plus, work was keeping me REALLY busy, so... and my other fics (mostly _I'm falling down, please help me_) kept me busy too. So, here it is, finally, the next part. Hope you'll like it._**

**PART 9**

Rory arrived in New Haven about an hour after dinner time. Since she hadn't eaten during the trip, she first dropped her suitcase at her dorm before she left again for a restaurant she liked. On her way there, she called her mother's cell phone.

"_Offspring!_" Lorelei screamed on the other end of the line when she answered.

"Hi mom. I'm back from Philly."

"_So, how was it?"_

"It was...wonderful. Saturday, there was first Jake, Jess's friend, that needed Jess's help for ideas on how to propose to his girlfriend. So in the afternoon, I went shopping with Marissa to get some clothes 'cause Jess was taking me out Saturday night..."

"_Wait, who's Marissa?"_

"Jake's girlfriend. She's really cool. She's kind of a mix of you and Lane."

"_Ohh! I love her!"_

Rory giggled.

"I knew you would."

"_How was the dinner with Jess?"_

"It was great. The food was wonderful. We talked about books and music. I had fun."

"_Glad to hear it. What happened next?"_

"Well, we went back to the appartment and we had sex..."

"_Oh! Bad mental image! Bad mental image! Oh my god, naked Jess...Aah! Really bad mental image!"_

"Ok, I get it. I gotta go. I haven't eaten dinner yet, so I'm going to die if I don't eat like right now."

"_Ok sweets. Call me back later?"_

"Sure. Bye!"

"_Bye!"_

Rory hung up and entered the restaurant. She left about an hour later and went back to her dorm, where she decided to unpack. When she was about to put away the last clothes she had brought, she found a single blue rose at the bottom of the suitcase. She smiled, taking the rose, and she reached in her purse for her cell phone. She dialed her boyfriend's number.

"_Hello?_" he answered.

"I thought I said that roses were out of the picture!"

"_Hi Rory. Had a nice trip?_"

"Sorry. Hi. Yes, I had a nice trip."

"_Good. As for the rose, well...you said that RED roses were out of the picture. You didn't mention anything about the other colors._"

Silence.

"Yeah. I guess you're right. Thank you, though. It's a nice surprise."

In Philadelphia, Jess sat down, smiling.

**(A/N: Here, it's Rory that we hear on the phone, and we see Jess in his appartment, just so you know and don't get all "hey, what happened here?" Okay, I shut myself up now...)**

"You welcome. I knew you would like it."

"_You know I love you, right?_"

"I love you too, Ror. I'll call you tomorrow when I get back from work, okay? I have to go to bed, I have to get up early."

"_Okay. Good night, then._"

"Good night."

And they hung up. The week went by in a blur. Jess had called the night following the one she had found the rose, just as he had said. He had also called on Thursday night to tell he couldn't come the next week-end, but he would be there no matter what on the other. In one way, she was glad he couldn't come because her mother had called her to ask her to go to Stars Hollow for the last few things that were left to arrange for the wedding, so she would have barely seen Jess. Plus, Lorelei thought she had finally found THE DRESS and she needed her daughter to make sure it was alright. With all this done during that week-end, she would be able to spend the other completely with Jess, since it would be the last week-end they would see each other before the wedding. Then again, she would spend a lot of time with him. It would be spring break, her mother and Luke would be off honeymooning for two weeks in Hawaii, so they would have the whole house for them alone... But before that, she had to get through that first week-end. So there she was, on her way to Stars Hollow at 3 on a Friday afternoon after her classes of the day. She arrived at her mother's house about a half hour later and took her overnight bag inside the house and into her bedroom. She then took the phone and called her mother's cell phone.

"_Rory!_" Lorelei exclaimed when she answered.

"Mom!" Rory answered. "I'm home!"

"_Great! Meet me at Luke's in ten?"_

"Sure! See you then!"

"_Bye!"_

She hung up and made her way to Luke's. She got there five minutes later, so she took a seat at the counter while waiting for her mother.

"Hey Rory" Luke said, coming out of the kitchen.

"Hey Luke, how are you?"

"Good, good! And you?"

"Good."

"Good. So, how's Yale?"

"Same as usual. I'm looking forward to spring break. Not only because it will be the wedding, but also because I need a break."

"Yeah. You want some coffee?"

"Sure."

"Comin' right up."

He grabbed a mug and filled it with coffee.

"So, how's Jess?"

"He works a lot. He wants to have his two full weeks for the wedding, so he works for it. I think he's done overtime these last few days 'cause when I was calling him around dinner time, he wasn't there. He's usually back for dinner."

"Yeah. I think those two weeks will have benefits for everyone of us."

"I think so too."

Lorelei bursted in.

"Offspring!"

"Mom!"

The two hugged each other tightly and they sat down at the counter. They talked for a while before ordering something for dinner. After that, they went home and soon went to bed so that they could leave early the next morning. Which they succeeded in. They first went shoe shopping then after lunch, Lorelei brought Rory to the store where she thought she had found the right wedding dress. Lorelei asked the lady at the counter for her dress, since she had put it on hold, and went into a changing room with a promise to Rory to do it quickly. While waiting for her mother, Rory browsed absentmindedly a rack full of dresses. A quite simple one caught her attention: it had nothing fancy beside a small silk band around the waist and crinoline covering the bottom part of the dress. Rory pulled the dress out of the rack and lifted it to have a better look. She then turned it around and walked to a mirror to see what she would look like with that dress. All she could see was herself walking down an aisle at her father's arm to her soon-to-be husband. The man she then saw at the other end of the aisle made her jump slightly of surprise: Jess. Sure, the idea of spending her whole life with him had crossed her mind, but marrying him...she wasn't even sure if Jess would like to get married.

"You would look perfect in this dress" a voice behind her said.

She turned around, startled. She saw one of the ladies working in the store staring at her with a smile.

"Hum...thanks" she said once she had recovered from the shock. "But I'm not getting married anytime soon. My mom is, though."

She put back the dress where she had taken it, blushing a little. The lady left. At the same time, Lorelei came out of the changing room she was in with her dress on. Rory's jaw fell to the floor. Her mother was beautiful.

"So, what do you think?" Lorelei asked, seeing that Rory wasn't saying anything.

"Mom...you look wonderful! This is THE dress. I'm sure of it."

"Thanks hun. I just wanted to make sure I had made the right choice. I love this dress."

They smiled to each other and Lorelei went back to the changing room to put back on her day's clothes. A while later, they left the store and headed back to Stars Hollow. They agreed to hide the dress in the closet of Rory's bedroom because Luke would never even dare open the door. Once that done, they headed for the door but Rory's cell phone began to ring. Checking the ID, she smiled.

"Mom, just go to Luke's now, I'll meet you there later" she told her mother.

"Ok hun. See you later."

"Bye."

Lorelei left and Rory answered.

"Hey you" she said happily.

"_Hey yourself_" Jess replied. "_Took you long enough to answer._"

"Sorry. Mom and I were heading to Luke's just before you called. I sent her there and I'll meet her there later."

"_Ok. So, how was your week? Oh, by the way, I'm sorry for not being there when you called. I'm doing extra time to be able to have my two weeks without being disturbed."_

"I know, and I understand that. My week was pretty much the same as usual. Classes, homework, paper meetings and Paris...today was great, though."

"_What happened today?"_

"Well, mom and I went shopping and she showed me her wedding dress. You should have seen her, Jess. She looked amazing."

"_I'm sure she did. I'll get back to you on that on the big day."_

"Deal. So, what about you?"

"_Not much, beside working, I haven't really done anything else. I'm quite exhausted."_

"Understandable."

They fell silent for a moment, Rory debating with herself if she should tell Jess about her daydream at the bridal store. She finally decided to tell him.

"Hey Jess?"

"_Yes Ror?"_

"You know, something happened today."

"_What happened?"_

"Well, when mom was putting on her dress, at the store, I browsed through some dresses and there was one that caught my attention. I had that daydream where I was walking down and aisle towards my soon-to-be husband. Do you know who that was?"

"_No. Who?"_

"It was you."

In Philadelphia, Jess ran a hand through his hair nervously, becoming a little uncomfortable. Where was that conversation heading? Rory, at the other end of the line, sensed his discomfort in his silence.

"Jess, I'm not telling you this to pressure you or anything. Getting married isn't even in my short term plans. I just thought I should tell you that because somewhere in the future, well...I think I'd like to marry you."

Jess let out a small sigh of relief.

"Plus" she continued, "I think that getting married now wouldn't be the best idea. We just got back together. Our relationship could even fail at some point..."

"_Ror_" he cut her, "_it will work. Do you want it to work?_"

"Of course I want it to work! It's just that the distance could end up winning on us."

"_It won't. I promise you it never will. I love you Ror, and you love me, right?_"

"Yes, I love you."

"_In this case, the distance will never win. We'll make this work, ok?_"

"Yeah."

"_And...I can't tell that the idea of marrying you never crossed my mind, because the I would be lying._"

In Stars Hollow, Rory smiled widely. A short silence followed.

"Look, I have to go" she said regretfully after a while, "mom's waiting for me at Luke's. I'll call you tomorrow night when I'll get back to my dorm?"

"_Okay. I have to go too anyway, Jake needs my help with something tonight._"

"Again? What does he need your help with?"

"_I don't know, he didn't tell._"

"Ok then. So I'll call you tomorrow."

"_Yeah. I love you._"

"I love you too. Bye."

"_Bye._"

With that, they hung up and Rory left for Luke's. Once there, she found her mother alone at a table with a cup of coffee. She joined her.

"Hey mom" she greeted her, sitting down.

"Hey hun. So, how's Jess?"

"How do you know it was Jess?"

"Well, the smile you had on your face when you checked the ID explained everything. The time you took to come explains a lot too."

"Ok, I get it."

"So, how's Jess?"

Rory rolled her eyes.

"He's exhausted. He's been doing overtime this week to have two full weeks for the wedding."

"At least it's for a good reason."

"What do you mean?"

"Well...back in high school, he was skipping school to work at Wal-Mart."

"He just needed the cash, mom."

"I'm not accusing him here, hun. It's just that we don't know what he needed that money for. Do you know what it was for?"

"Well...no...maybe it was for his car."

"You know, I think he was hiding a lot from you back then."

"He doesn't anymore!"

"Keyword here: back then."

"Oh yeah, sorry. I know. Communication wasn't our strong point. One of the reasons why it failed then..."

A bit of sadness appeared in her eyes and she looked down. Lorelei put a comforting hand on her daughter's shoulder.

"Maybe it failed back then so it could work later" she told Rory.

Rory looked at her incredulously.

"So it could work? Are you sure you're feeling alright, mom?"

"Yes, why?"

"Well, as far as I know, you're not Jess's biggest fan."

"You know hun, I learned to know him in the while you were...you know...away. He came here a few times, and we talked. We sort of called a truce."

"Really?"

"Well...not really. Actually, I just noticed how changed he was. I think that maybe this separation you two went through was the best thing that ever happened."

"The best? Have you seen how I turned?"

"Yes hun. Maybe it happened so that Jess could come back to you."

Rory thought about it for a moment.

"Maybe you're right, after all" she finally said, smiling.

_**Reviews please! You know it makes me update more quickly! If I can find the inspiration, that is...**_


	10. AN Announcement

For those of you who are interested, I am now on Twitter under musicalfreak22!

Even though I'm not writing right now (school, work and all keep me busy…), you can follow me in my everyday life. And I will give you some updates as to when I'll start writing again the stories that I have left aside for some time now.

You can also give me some ideas as to how I could continue my stories. Or just to say "hi"! It doesn't matter what you're there for, it's just nice to have people saying hi and give some encouragement.

I am also working on a new story. I will post it when I will be done with the two (or was it three?) current ones.

See ya all soon!

RoRyJeSsAdDiCt


	11. Part 10

_**First of all, don't be scared if the pen name isn't the same, because I changed it. Since I want to write for Twilight too, the pen name I had wasn't really fitting anymore.**_

_**Okay, I know, it has been much too long. Believe me, I know. I'll tell you work and school took a lot, and I DO mean A LOT, of my time, because it's the absolute truth. I barely had time for myself (I mean...didn't even have time to go and get waxed for a few months now, I look like a bear...). Please accept my apologies.**_

_**I hope this chapter will make up at least for a little of the time it took me to update. According to my fabulous beta Kassandra27, it's really funny. I hope you'll think so too. Enjoy!  
**_

**

* * *

PART 10**

The next few weeks went by in a blur and everything for Luke and Lorelai's wedding was falling into place. Both groom and bride were growing more nervous every day, but in a good way. In the last week before the ceremony, Rory stayed in Stars Hollow with her mother. Every night, when she thought Rory wasn't looking, Lorelai tried on her dress, with shoes and all, and would look at herself in Rory's floor length mirror. Rory remembered her grandmother's words from when Lorelai was supposed to get married to Max Medina, her former English teacher back in Chilton. Emily had said that she had tried on her dress every night for a week, the week just before the wedding. That's how she knew she was marrying the right man. And that's how Lorelai came to the conclusion that she wasn't going to marry the right man by marrying Max. Now, Lorelai was sure she was doing the right thing by marrying Luke. She had never been happier, and the dress try-on was speaking for itself.

Rory and Jess didn't see each other in those weeks since Jess was very busy at Truncheon in order to have his two full weeks off for and after the wedding. As for Rory, mid-terms kept her busy until a few days before the ceremony. But even though they were busy, they talked on the phone regularly.

The day before the ceremony, everyone seemed to run around like headless chickens. Lorelai, Rory and Jess were seeing to every last detail… while Luke was at the diner, serving customers…and trying to overcome his anxiety, but it wasn't working that well. Everybody kept asking him how he was feeling about the impending wedding, if he was scared that Lorelai would leave him at the altar since it was practically what she had done with Max…when Kirk asked him that last question, he had had enough. He threw everyone out – literally - and closed the diner. "Closed until further notice" Luke wrote on a piece of cardboard and stuck to the door hastily. He then washed the day away with a few beers.

…and that's where Jess found him a few hours later, half an hour before they were to leave for the bachelor party. When Jess entered the apartment, he found Luke passed out on the couch, a hand hanging off the edge with a half empty beer bottle in it.

"Oh geez…you've got to be kidding me," Jess whispered upon witnessing the scene.

Running a hand through his hair in anxiety, he went and made a pot of strong coffee. While the coffee was brewing, he tried to come up with a way to wake his uncle up. First, he tried some really loud rock music that he knew Luke hated. It didn't work.

"Okay, what else?" he questioned. "Okay. Luke, I'm gonna go out and pull a prank on Taylor!"

Still nothing. Getting frustrated, Jess ran a hand through his hair.

"Luke, I'm gonna go have crazy sex with Rory and knock her up!"

Still no reaction.

"Okay! That's it!"

At this point, Jess was fuming. Pacing the room, he took deep breaths to calm down. Once he had calmed down enough, he marched to the phone.

Meanwhile, over at the Crap Shack, Rory and Lorelai were running around like headless chickens. Rory was jumping out of her bedroom on one foot, trying to put on a shoe on her other foot, when the phone rang.

"I've got it!" she yelled out.

She ran to the living room, hearing the phone without seeing it.

"Mom! Where's the phone?"

"Um… in the living room?" Lorelai replied from upstairs.

"Great," Rory mumbled under her breath, moving the cushions of the couch around.

And there it was.

"Ah ha!" she exclaimed, pressing the "talk" button. "Hello?"

"_Rory?_"

"Jess? What's going on?"

"_Ror, I've got a problem._"

"What kind of problem?"

"_Luke._"

"What about Luke?"

"_He's passed out cold. On the couch. Drunk off his ass._"

"You're kidding, right?"

"_Do I sound like I'm kidding?_"

"Right, sorry. Damn. Did you give him some coffee?"

"_I tried. But he's passed out. There's nothing I can do._"

"Ok. Let me talk to my mom and I'll call you back."

"_Ok. Thanks._"

Rory hung up and ran upstairs.

"Mom?"

"Who was on the phone?"

"It was Jess. We've got a problem."

"What kind of problem?"

"Um… Luke. He's drank so much that he's passed out cold on the couch. Jess tried to wake him up to give him some coffee, but there's he won't wake up."

Lorelai tried to calm down and sat down on her bed, stunned to silence.

"You think he's getting cold feet?" she said after a minute.

"Mom, come on. Luke has loved you since forever. How could he get cold feet?"

"Rory, Luke doesn't get drunk for nothing. He hardly ever gets drunk. He must have a good reason."

"True, but still. This is Luke we're talking about."

"I guess you're right. Let's go."

"Go where?"

"To Luke's."

"But it's your bachelorette party tonight!"

"Rory, my soon-to-be husband is more important right now."

"Right, sorry. Let's go."

They were at the diner a few minutes later and let themselves in. Upstairs, they found Jess sitting at the table.

"Okay, where is he?" Lorelai asked upon entering the apartment.

"On the couch. I tried everything I could think of. Nothing worked."

Lorelai went to the couch and sat on the floor.

"Do you know what happened?"

"Nope. I came back and he was already passed out."

"Okay, let's see…"

She shook him, poked him, slapped him, threw cold water on his face, powdered some pepper under his nose, yelled in his ear, threw a tantrum, jumped on the couch above him. But nothing worked. Spent, Lorelai sat back down on the floor.

"I'm out of ideas" she declared.

"I feel like we're in _Snow White_. You could always try to kiss him," Rory said jokingly.

Jess smirked. Lorelai glared.

"It was just an idea…" Rory rectified.

Lorelai continued to glare for a moment, then turned to Luke and leaned down to kiss him… and nothing happened. Jess tried to hide his smirk whereas Rory couldn't stop a chuckle from coming out.

"What?" Lorelai said. "It was worth a try!"

Nor Rory or Jess commented on that.

"Oh! I know!" Lorelai exclaimed after a moment of silence. "Luke, if you don't wake up now, I'm gonna steal that mysterious but oh-so-delicious coffee of yours and drink lots and lots of it!"

Luke's eyes shot open and he shot up.

"No!"

Rory and Jess stood there, dumbfounded.

"Why didn't I think of that?" Jess wondered out loud.

"Lo'lai? Wory? 'ess? What're y'all doin' 'ere?" Luke said, clearly confused and still drunk.

"Luke, sweetie" Lorelai started, "you're drunk. We're here to help you not have too much of a hangover at the wedding tomorrow. Sit back down, we'll give you some coffee. Jess?"

Jess went and fixed a mug and gave it to Luke, who gave it a look of disgust.

"Thi' stuff'll kill you" he slurred.

"At least he's consistent" Rory commented.

"Maybe," Lorelai said in reply to Luke, "but you'll thank me for it in the morning. Now drink up."

They all stayed silent while Luke was sipping on the coffee.

"Why were you drinking Luke?" Lorelai asked once she noticed the coffee had some sort of effect.

Luke ran a hand down his face to somewhat clear his head before answering.

"I had a bad day. People kept pestering me about the wedding, how I'm feeling, if I'm nervous… when Kirk asked if I was scared you'd leave me at the altar, I lost it. Threw everyone out, came up here and had a few beers. Guess I lost count of how many."

"So you're not getting cold feet?"

"Cold feet? Why would I get cold feet?"

"We'll leave you two to talk," Jess said, tugging Rory towards the door.

They closed the door behind them and went to sit down at one of the tables in the diner. Luke and Lorelai joined about 15 minutes later.

"Nope, definitely not getting cold feet," Lorelai said while fixing her hair.

"Eww, mom, please…" Rory said, her face scrunched up in disgust.

"I definitely didn't need to know that," Jess added.

Luke slapped his nephew on the back of his head.

"Someone's cranky," Jess said, rubbing his head.

Luke and Lorelai sat down at the table where Rory and Jess were. They were silent for a moment, before Luke suddenly turned to his nephew.

"Hey, did I hear you tell me you were going to have crazy sex with Rory and knock her up?!?!"Luke yelled.

Rory's and Lorelai's eyes widened, the latter putting a hand on her mouth to hide her smile.

"Hey, I only said that to try and wake you up!" Jess replied, raising his hands in defense.

* * *

**_Again, sorry for the long delay. I hope it was worth it. Next chapter is the long awaited wedding, and also the last chapter to this story. I have to tell you now that there won't be a sequel. If you want to know more as to the ''why'', leave me a review or PM me, and I'll explain._**

**_Please review! I would love to know what you thought!  
_**


	12. Part 11

_**Alright folks, here we are, the final chapter. I hope you like it despite it's somewhat shortness. Longer AN at the end, I hope you take some time to read it.  


* * *

**_

**PART 11**

Lorelai was alone in one of the rooms at the inn, putting the finishing touches to her make-up and hair.

The day had finally arrived. This time, she was sure of her choice. She had almost expected the urge to run away to overtake her at some point, like it had happened when she was about to marry Max Medina. It wasn't as if she had doubted her marriage to Max all along, it was mostly in the last week before the ceremony. In this case: nothing. Nothing besides the fact that she was beyond excited. And maybe a bit apprehensive, because her parents had decided to be there. Her father would even be walking her down the aisle, although he wasn't the main problem.

As she was admiring herself in the floor-length mirror Rory had brought from her bedroom, a knock sounded at the door.

"Come in," she called quietly.

"Are you decent?" Rory's voice asked.

"Yes."

Rory poked her head in.

"Mom…" she said while entering. "You look…absolutely radiant."

"I do, don't I?"

She turned around to face her daughter and they hugged.

"Any urge to run away yet?"

"No, absolutely not."

They beamed at each other.

"Nervous?"

"I wouldn't say nervous. I'd say excited. I just can't wait to be married Rory, you have no idea."

"Well, seeing you right now gives me a pretty good idea."

"So, any reason for this impromptu visit?" Lorelai asked after a moment of silence.

"Actually, yes. First, to tell you that you have about 10 minutes left before the ceremony begins. And second…there's someone that wants to talk to you."

"Who?"

Instead of giving Lorelai a straight answer, Rory went to let in the mysterious person, Emily.

"I'll leave you two alone," Rory said before she escaped out the door.

"Mom. Hi."

"Hello Lorelai."

There was a moment of silence.

"So?" Lorelai prompted.

"It's just... Have a nice ceremony, Luke's perfect for you," Emily tried to be nice but it still came out as a personal jab.

"Really mom? That's what you came to say to me," Lorelai replied calling her out.

"Umm, no," Emily said eyes downcast.

"Look mom, it's my wedding day, one of the best days of my life, I hope, and truthfully I don't want to stand here and listen to you make any personal remarks or really comment on anything about my life which you don't approve of. This is my day mom, not yours. So please if you don't have anything constructive to say, then please leave."

"I'm sorry," Emily whispered.

"Excuse me?" Lorelai thought she heard Emily apologize, but she must have been mistaken.

"I said I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything."

"Everything?" Lorelai questioned trying to get her mother to elaborate.

"I'm sorry for the way I treated you when you were young, and when you were pregnant, I should have been there for you... like you are with Rory, but I wasn't. If I could go back in time and change the past, then I would."

"And what exactly would you change?"

"Everything, but you've grown into an exceptional woman Lorelai. You're intelligent, you have strong morals, and you don't back down from what you believe in. I'm... I'm proud of you Lorelai. And maybe my bad treatment of you as a child and as a young woman helped shape you into the woman you are now, but maybe your life would have been better with me in it, and I'm sorry for that Lorelai. You deserved to have the world, but I foolishly kept it from you. You deserved a better mother and for that I'm sorry."

Lorelai was speechless for a moment. Never in a million years would she have thought her mother would come and apologize to her, even less on her wedding day.

"I hope…" Emily continued, "I just hope it's not too late to at least try to have a real relationship, like the one you have with Rory."

"It couldn't ever be like the relationship I have with Rory, mom. Rory's my best friend first, and my daughter second. You'll always be my mother first. I do want to try to get along with you, but please, don't push me. I need you to let go of all those preconceived ideas you have, about Luke, about Jess, even about this _town_."

"If that's what it takes, I'll do it."

Lorelai sighed.

"Good. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to go and get married."

Emily smiled.

"Of course."

"Jess will take you to your seat, please be nice to him."

"Lorelai, I just said I would try. Have a little faith in me!"

"Sorry," she smiled sheepishly.

With that, Emily exited the room and Rory came back in.

"So, what did she say?"

"I'll tell you more later, but to put it simply, she's sorry."

"Okay, now I'm curious."

"Later honey, my future husband is waiting for me."

"Fine. Let's go get you married."

They smiled at each other and exited the room. Richard was waiting for them by the doors leading to the Inn's yard.

"Lorelai, you look stunning. And so do you Rory, blue is wonderful on you."

"Thanks dad!"

"Thank you grandpa."

"Are you ready?" he asked Lorelai.

"More than I'll ever be."

"Let's go then."

Rory stepped out and slowly made her way down the makeshift aisle, smiling softly. When her eyes caught Jess', who was proudly standing beside Luke, her smile grew bigger, her eyes lighting up. She even blushed a little and looked down for a second. Jess gave her his crooked smile.

In the audience, Emily was observing Rory and Jess' silent interaction. She had been foolish to think Rory could ever marry Logan. She had never seen her granddaughter as happy as she was with Jess. She could see it in the smile she gave Jess when she saw him. And Jess. He was completely different from the first time she had seen him, years ago. He wasn't that angry kid anymore. He could make Rory happy.

Everyone stood up and turned around to see Lorelai's arrival on her father's arm, a bright smile on her face. And Richard was beaming proudly. While they were walking down the aisle, Richard couldn't help but think that Luke was the right man for his daughter, and Jess the right man for his granddaughter. He had never seen them as happy as they were with these men. When they arrived at the altar, he proudly gave his daughter away to Luke, shaking hands with the latter before giving him Lorelai's hand. When he sat down beside Emily, he happily put his arm around her shoulder and lightly squeezed.

"We have two wonderful girls," he said.

"That we do, Richard."

With that, the ceremony started and went down smoothly. Lorelai and Luke exchanged heartfelt vows, Lorelai so moved by Luke's that she was crying throughout hers. Everyone laughed at that, even her. A few minutes later, the minister was pronouncing them husband and wife, and told Luke he could kiss his bride.

"Finally," Luke said.

Lorelai giggled and they exchanged a soft kiss under the audience's applause. As they were about to walk back down the aisle to the reception area, Jess stepped up and requested a minute to talk to everyone.

"Rory, come here, " he said, offering her his hand.

Surprised, Rory took his hand and stepped closer, curious as to what he was up to.

"Jess, what are you doing?" Luke asked.

"Listen to me, please."

"Can't it wait at the reception?"

"No, I can't wait. There's something I need to do."

"Jess, you're scaring me…" Rory started.

"Don't worry, just hear me out."

They all stood there silently, waiting for him to talk.

"I just want to tell you all that you were wrong. I might have been an angry kid the first time I was here, but I've changed. I work in a publishing house and a bookstore. I even wrote a novel. It's not much, but I'm proud of it. It doesn't take a college diploma to make something out of a life. Rory understands that, and that's what makes me love her even more. She doesn't need money, diplomas and grand gestures. All she wants is authenticity, honesty. That's all I can give her anyway."

With that, he turned to face Rory.

"Rory, I don't have much to offer but myself."

He reached into his pants' pocket and came out with a small velvet box. Rory's hand flew up to her mouth, shocked.

"I know we're not ready for marriage yet… hell, I never thought I'd be doing this… Rory, will you accept this promise ring as a symbol of my devotion for you. I am making you, today, the promise not only to marry you one day, but also to love you for as long as I'll live."

Rory let out a few tears.

"You know this would be considered a grand gesture, right?" she asked Jess.

He smiled crookedly.

"Well, maybe for occasions like this one, they're worth it."

She giggled and nodded her head. Understanding immediately, Jess promptly slid the ring on her ring finger and they exchanged a soft kiss. Everyone applauded and they looked out at the audience. Rory caught her grandmother's eye, who quickly winked at her. Puzzled, she turned back to Jess.

"Why did my grandmother just wink at me?" she whispered.

Jess smirked.

"I may have talked to your grandparents before doing this…"

* * *

_**Thought this would be a good place to end :)**_

_**First, I would like to thank CammieSwan1785, wherever you are, for the promise ring idea. I loved the idea and really wanted to use it.**_

_**Second, give it out for my fabulous beta Kassandra27. She's amazing, gives great ideas and she knows when to call me back to order. I may have been a bit lazy in the last few weeks about this chapter...**_

_**Finally, this is the last chapter. There won't be any epilogue or sequel. I wanted to leave out the rest to your imagination. Also, I won't be writing for GG anymore. The thrill to write for GG isn't as strong as it has been...BUT, I'm not stopping to write. I've started working on a Twilight story. It's my new addiction lol. The first chapter should be out, I'd say...in the next few weeks.  
**_

_**For those of you who were waiting for a new Common Passion chapter, I'm sorry to tell you that I will be deleting it from FF in a week's time. As I said, the thrill to write for GG isn't as strong as it has been. I'm open to the idea of someone taking over, although I would like some credit, because the idea is basically mine.**_

_**Thank you to all of you who didn't lose faith in me, because this story has been in process for a LONG time (my first files are dated in 2006...). I hope it ends well for you. It does for me.**_

_**Hope to hear from you all throughout my Twilight story (maybe stories ;) ).**_

_**Yours truly,  
muscalfreak22**_


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